Iterations
by Dfsemina
Summary: Sans has watched as everything repeated over and over again. So has Frisk. Sans gave up a long time ago. Frisk, she still has plenty of determination. They couldn't end the loop on their own. But maybe, they could end it if they worked together? Female Frisk. Possible future Frisk/Sans.
1. A Few Loops

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

A/N: In my headcanon Frisk is a girl. I address her as such. I wanted to make sure you all knew this before starting.

* * *

Iterations

A Few Loops

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

She was beaten by a talking flower and rescued by a goat-like creature. She asked to leave the Ruins. She trembled as fire magic surrounded her. She died, watching the surprised horror on her rescuer's face. She kept trying. She left the older woman behind.

She met a pair of skeleton brothers. Dated one. Befriended both. She ran from a scary fish woman with glowing blue spears. She died a few more times. She met a shy dinosaur monster and a flamboyant robot. Died some more. Spoke briefly to the shorter skeleton brother before meeting the king of all monsters. For the first time ever, she fought back. He turned to dust as the flower attacked him from behind.

She fought against the flower and lost.

And lost.

And lost.

Until she won.

She left the underground.

Meeting the cold eyes of her parents, she wondered why she had ever returned.

She felt a tugging sensation in her chest.

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

Her vision was distorted as if looking through running water. Her body moved on its own. There was a constant ringing in her ears, louder than anyone who tried to speak to her. She watched as she cut everyone down, until only the King's castle was left unexplored.

And in the final corridor before the throne room, the shorter skeleton. _Sans_ , an unfamiliar voice whispered hatefully in her head.

His left eye glowed blue and sharp bones emerged from the floor to rip through her body. She heard an inhuman scream come from her lips.

She felt... relieved.

She felt a tugging sensation in her chest.

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

She sighed in relief as she confirmed she had regained full control of her body. She waited until Toriel came to tend the flowers, wanting to bypass meeting Flowey completely. She followed her home. She learned the curriculum she had planned, ate snail pie, and accompanied her to all her favorite bug-catching spots. She ignored the sound of the door out of the Ruins being demolished. She called Toriel "Mom."

She stayed. While she wasn't happy, she was content.

She felt a tugging sensation in her chest.

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

She broke the barrier and set all the monsters free. She stayed with Toriel after they surfaced. They watched monsters become integrated with human society. Toriel became a teacher. Asgore became a gardener. Sans picked up a couple of classes at the community college and a couple of jobs. Papyrus got his license and a car. Alphys continued as a scientist while Undyne became a wrestler.

Everything turned out as it should have.

She felt a tugging sensation in her chest.

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

She sat up and sighed. She really did not want to do it all again.

* * *

A/N: This is not so much a chapter as it is a way of setting the story. These are a few iterations, or runs, that have already happened. As you can see, Frisk is not the one resetting everything in these runs though she does have the power to reset.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	2. Deviation

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Deviation

* * *

This was the shortest amount of time she had ever spent with Toriel in all of her runs. As the door slammed and locked behind her, she immediately regretted it. She had not stayed long enough to grab a sweater. She had not even changed out of her shorts. She shifted her weight from foot to foot awkwardly as she contemplated her options. Snowdin was a long way off but perhaps if she jogged it she would stay warm enough?

As if urging her to get on with it, a snowflake found its way through the curtain of her hair and down the back of her shirt. She immediately broke into a run. She idly noted that Sans did not show up to meet her as she ran through the bars of Papyrus' gate. By the time she had reached the clearing with the conveniently-shaped lamp, she was trembling, socks and shoes both soaked through. She looked around and then, without giving herself a moment to change her mind, tramped over to Sans' sentry station. The door was unlocked and she slipped in. The room was blessedly warm. She plopped down onto the floor. With difficulty, she peeled off her shoes and socks, frowning as she rubbed warmth into her freezing limbs.

"human, don't you know it's rude to enter a room that isn't yours?"

She startled and looked up. As always with Sans, she had not heard the door open. But there he was, leaning comfortably against the door, watching her. She murmured a quick greeting and an apology.

"it's cool. although," he paused, looking at the clothing discarded on the floor. "what are you doing in here?"

She swept the clothing into her arms and scrambled to her feet, cheeks coloring in embarrassment. "Nothing."

Something shifted in his expression. "are you sure?"

Her face felt like it was on fire. She looked to the floor as she replied, "Yeah. Just... resting."

"SANS!"

She did not know whether to be grateful for the distraction or worried that she would be discovered earlier than usual. She glanced at the conveniently-shaped lamp through the window and winced. There was no way she would get to it on time. Sans stepped up beside her and gestured to the desk. Patting him on the shoulder in appreciation, she crawled under just as Papyrus reached the sentry station. It was mildly reassuring for her to hear Papyrus immediately start berating his brother. She had not changed too much with her mistake. She bit her lip and smothered her smile with her sleeve as Sans told familiar puns to his brother. Somehow, no matter how many times she heard them, they were always funny. Finally, Papyrus replied with his own pun before skittering away.

"coast is clear, kid."

She wiggled out of the small space and stood. Shifting her clothes into the cradle of her left arm, she held out her hand to shake. Their introductions went the same as always, whoopie cushion and all.

He picked up a red plastic bottle that had been laying on the floor and held it up. "welp, i better go _ketchup_ with my brother before he gets to far."

She laughed and his grin widened. Her shoe fumbled off of her arm and she reached down to catch it. When she looked up, he was gone. Frowning, she wondered whether she would ever figure out how he did that. Figuring that he did not mind her being here since he had left without saying anything about it, she loitered in the warm room. She picked up the empty bottles of condiments and put them in the trash can. She organized the bottles that were not by condiment and color of the bottle. She straightened the loose notebook papers that were all around the room. She wiped (nonexistent) dust off of the table with her sleeve. When she could no longer justify her lack of progression, she reluctantly pulled on the still damp clothing. It was time for puzzles.

* * *

She had severely underestimated how cold it would be. Reaching the first puzzle, not only were her socks and shoes soaked through, but the rest of her clothes, too. Her hair, which had helped her keep at least a bit warm, was now wet and plastered to her bare neck. With her shaking so hard, even though all she had to do was follow Papyrus' tracks through the snow, she stumbled and ended up shocked a couple of times. Papyrus ran off, delighted with her solving the puzzle and she decided to throw in the towel. She shuffled over to Sans.

"thanks for playing along. my brother seems happy."

"Sans?"

"sup kid?"

She swallowed her embarrassment. The cold was absolutely no joke. "Can you get me to town really quick?"

He seemed surprised. "what's the hurry?"

Even the blood flooding to her cheeks felt cold. "I'm, uh, not exactly dressed for this kind of weather."

He glanced down at her attire, noticing it for the first time. She fidgeted under his gaze.

"you really aren't. come on. i know a shortcut."

She was in their house in the blink of an eye.

"make yourself at home, kid. i'll get you something warm to wear."

She stood awkwardly in the living room, not wanting to get their couch wet. She was still trembling in the warm house.

"here kid." Sans held out a pile of clothes.

She took them gratefully and wanted to kick herself for needing to ask for more. "Um... Can I use your shower? I, uh, don't think the clothes will be enough to warm me up."

The tiniest bit of blue dusted his cheeks. He gestured towards a door she had never entered in their home before. "yeah. right over there. there are towels on a rack."

She thanked him profusely before almost running to the bathroom and the promise of hot water.

* * *

She looked at herself in the fogged up mirror. Her skin was pink and her fingers looked like prunes from staying in the water for so long. She looked tiny in the borrowed clothes. She assumed they were all Sans'. The hoodie was identical to his except for the fact it was in a dark brown. The t-shirt had the conspicuous absence of the word "cool" embroidered on it. As for the pants, she only had to fold them four times, rather than the ten times she would have had to fold Papyrus'. Putting on the hood, it easily covered her face all the way down to the tip of her nose and she laughed. She pushed it up so she could see again and happily exited the bathroom.

Sans was sitting on the couch with the quantum physics joke book in hand.

"Hey. I'm ready to head back."

"back?"

"I can't let Papyrus down. Who'll do his puzzles if I don't?"

Sans smile grew. "true. let's go."

"Ah, wait! Do you have a pen?"

"sure." He handed her one. "what for?"

"So I can do your word search," she answered as she tucked it into the pocket of the hoodie.

She did not notice as Sans smile faltered for a moment. "...right. ready now?"

"Yup!"

* * *

Frisk was always a bit nervous when she reached the bridge. She worried that one day Papyrus really would activate it, thinking her actually capable of getting through it. She breathed out a sigh of relief as he turned it off and frolicked away. As she stepped off the bridge, something new happened.

"don't you get tired of this?"

She looked at him in confusion.

"seeing the same things. doing the same things. i'd think that you'd get bored eventually."

She tried to tamp down the hope that rose in her chest. What she was thinking had to be impossible.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His left eye flickered blue for a split second. "you ran through the gate without stopping, as if you knew the bars were wide enough for you to slip through. you got through the puzzles in record time. you knew i had chosen a word search. **You have done this before.** "

This time she could not help the hope from blossoming in her chest. She stepped up close and seized him by the shoulders. "You remember too? Do you... do you know how to make it stop?"

He looked at her in confusion. "you mean to tell me... you aren't doing this?"

She shook her head.

"...i think we need to talk."

* * *

A/N: We've got the ball rolling now. And the first real chapter. Onto to the next then.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	3. Sharing Notes

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Sharing Notes

* * *

She opened her eyes and found herself in Sans' Hotland sentry station that doubled as a hot dog stand. She shook away the disorientation at finding herself so far from where she had started. Sans gestured over to the only seat in the room and she hesitantly took it. Though Sans was still smiling and seemed comfortable as he leaned against the only door, she felt trapped. She struggled to hold his gaze and twiddled her thumbs. She waited for him to speak.

"now, i like a good – and bad – joke as much as the next guy. but even i know there's a time and place for that." He paused, flipping the sign on the window to say 'Closed.' "you _really_ aren't doing this?"

She could not give him a definitive 'no.' She hesitated.

Sans voice was noticeably lower as he prompted her again. Not a question, a demand. "kid?"

She whimpered but answered honestly. "Not... not always."

This time when his eye glowed blue, it stayed that way. " **explain**."

She shivered, hazy memories of him running her through and burning her body to ash with his magic flit through her mind. She tried to subtly shift his focus off of her. "I know I'm not the only one who can."

He rolled his wrist with an 'on-with-it' gesture. She was relieved to see the blue glow had faded.

"Flowey and–"

"who?"

She blinked, confused. "Flowey?"

He said nothing.

"You don't remember?"

He sighed and sat down. "not everything."

"But you said..."

"a lot of what i know is from making connections. paying attention to deja vu and looking over notes from previous runs."

"How do you – "

"bring things into the next run? i've got my ways. but i don't control whether or not i keep my memories. i'm pretty sure i get to keep some from each time around. but it's not perfect."

She always remembered everything.

"either way, who's flowey?"

She gave him a quick overview of how the talking flower was the first person she had met in the Underground. She went over how he had used Papyrus to lure everyone together in some runs and deliberately ignored the grinding sound of bone against bone as he clenched his fists. She told him about them all going free.

"i'm assuming you didn't reset those times?"

She laughed, mirthlessly. "not likely."

"when _did_ you reset?" he asked, reaching for a bottle of ketchup.

"When I died," she answered bluntly.

The bottle slipped through his fingers before he caught it again. He knocked it back like a champ. Setting it down with an overly loud thunk, he answered. "oh...that makes sense."

She continued in a whisper. "...and when someone else did."

The sound of bone against bone again. There was no confusion about who he was thinking of.

"That was the first time I had forced a reset, you know?" she murmured, looking down. "I mean, I had reset before. But it was like, whenever I died, a prompt would come up asking me if I wanted to. I'd just, you know, choose 'yes.' That was the first time I _made_ it happen without my own death. I woke up, same place as always, but everything was weird, warped. I couldn't see very clearly. And I couldn't move. There was a loud ringing in my ears. Then... my body started moving on its own."

She glanced up at Sans to see him staring at her intently. She continued, "The disorientation. The ringing, so loud. I couldn't think. Couldn't process anything. Everyone and everything felt familiar but it was like something was blocking me from remembering. And the next thing I knew, I was standing in front of a pile of dust with Papyrus' skull in my hand. He was talking, but I couldn't hear a thing. And I felt my hands squeeze."

She pulled her legs up onto the chair, hugging her knees to her chest. She sobbed. "And I couldn't remember his name, or his voice. But I remember screaming in my head, even as I could hear distorted laughter coming from my lips. 'No.' The pull in my chest started then and I knew everything was going to reset."

Silence. Then, "and the other times?" The other bad runs. The runs that were so _so_ much worse.

"Sometimes, I had no control at all."

He picked up a bottle of ketchup in each hand before offering one to her. She took it, just to have something to do with her hands. She rolled it between her palms.

"kid, i think things just became a hell of a lot more complicated."

"Nope. They've always been complicated. You just didn't have all the pieces."

"i still don't."

She frowned. "I don't think we ever really will."

He clinked the glass ketchup bottle against the one in her hands before gulping it down. She looked down at the bottle and shrugged. She liked the stuff well enough on fries. With so much new in this iteration, she might as well try it. She filled her mouth with ketchup, face scrunching up involuntarily, and swallowed hard. She held the mostly full bottle out to Sans, who was looking at her incredulously. Then, he grinned. Then, he laughed long and hard as he took it from her.

"lightweight."

–

A/N: Now this chapter's pretty short, I'll admit. But I've always thought you should make chapters as long as they want to be. Or as long as it takes to get where you need to be. And with this out, we can get on with the next.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	4. A Place to Call Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale

* * *

Iterations

A Place to Call Home

* * *

She stepped out of Papyrus' room, the tall skeleton right behind her. Sans looked up from where he sat on the couch.

"hey. how'd the date go?"

"UNFORTUNATELY FOR THE HUMAN, I WAS UNABLE TO RETURN HER FEELINGS!"

Sans eyes darted to hers and she suppressed a smile. "is that so? tough luck, kid."

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ELECTED TO PRETEND AS IF THE ILL-FATED ENCOUNTER HAD NEVER HAPPENED TO SPARE THE HUMAN FROM HUMILIATION!"

"that's nice of you."

"I KNOW! I WILL NOW PROVIDE THEM WITH THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF SPACE TO RECOVER FROM MY REJECTION, AS THE DATING BOOK'S CHAPTER TITLED 'REJECTION AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT' INSISTS!" he replied as he jumped out the window.

They stared out the window as the 'NYEH HEH HEH's faded. Then they turned to each other.

"so, how are you playing it this time?"

She flopped down on the couch next to him, throwing an arm over her eyes. "I think I'll grab a room over at the Inn. Once I meet Undyne, there's no real downtime for a while. Besides, it would be easier to work together if you're close by. You may be able to reach me any time with your shortcuts, but it doesn't exactly work the other way."

He hummed in agreement. "sounds good. i wouldn't bother with the inn though."

She peeked out from under her arm.

"if i'm remembering right, you don't get a whole lot of cash unless you go around being a terror." She winced and he amended his statement. "i mean, when whatever takes over your body sometimes is being a terror. you might as well stay here."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to put you out."

His skull did a fair imitation of raising an eyebrow. "how much gold do you got kid? really?"

She flushed but answered in a mumble anyway. "...a hundred fifty-three."

"yeah, sounds like you don't have much choice."

"Thanks." And she meant it, really.

"no problem. tv?"

"Sure."

* * *

Papyrus broke through the front door with an impressive tuck and roll. "SANS! I HAVE RETURNED! WHY HAVE YOU STILL NOT ATTENDED TO YOUR PUZZ– THE HUMAN IS STILL HERE!"

She waved from where she sat bundled up in a blanket on their couch.

"yep."

"I AM SUPPOSED TO BE GIVING THE HUMAN PLENTY OF SPACE TO RECUPERATE FROM HEARTBREAK," he whisper-yelled to Sans, no doubt attempting to be discrete.

"yep."

"WHAT SHOULD I DO?"

"dunno."

"SANS! THIS IS SERIOUS!"

"yep."

She decided to step in before Sans worked Papyrus up into a tizzy. She chose to pretend she had not heard their loud conversation. "Papyrus?"

"YES, HUMAN?" he responded, a drop of nervous sweat on his skull.

"I'm not distraught over your rejection anymore."

He looked surprised. "REALLY?"

"Yeah. I've shifted from being in love to hero worship."

He blinked in surprise. Then, he struck a dramatic pose and stated, "OF COURSE YOU HAVE!" He immediately followed with a long-winded rant about his greatness.

Sans gave her an amused look. He whispered loud enough for only Frisk to hear. "what are you playing at, kid?"

She whispered back. "It's his house too. I'd feel better getting permission to stay from both of you."

She interrupted Papyrus as he took a breath between sentences. "Do you know what that means?"

He paused thoughtfully. "NO. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?"

"It means that I'm going to be staying here."

"IT DOES?"

"Yeah, so I can learn from your example."

"A BRILLIANT IDEA! I SHALL FIRST TEACH YOU TO MAKE DIABOLICAL PUZZLES. I SHALL RETRIEVE MY BOOKS ON PUZZLE-MAKING!" He ran up to his room excitedly.

"look what you've got yourself into."

She grinned at him good-naturedly. "What? I always enjoy his puzzles. Might as well learn to make my own."

Whatever reply Sans had was abruptly cut off as Papyrus reappeared, picking the girl up and jumping out the Papyrus-shaped hole in the front door.

* * *

A/N: Another short one. But it was important to give Frisk a place to stay. Besides, it's really hard to resist Papyrus. Heavy on the dialogue, I know. But stories with cooperation usually are.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	5. Close Call

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Close Call

* * *

The next few days were spent getting situated. Frisk took residence on their couch. She bought some clothes that were actually her size. Papyrus put up a third mailbox for her even though she did not yet know enough people to actually get mail. Sans let her keep the clothing she had borrowed and she would be lying if she said she did not wear the hoodie most days. There was something comforting about wearing it. She picked up a job working with Sans at his hot dog stand. She was finally settled in enough for them to start planning for the future.

She should have known things were going too smoothly.

* * *

It was odd. He did not know when it happened, or even if it was a gradual thing, but it was as if he was always attuned with the kid. Even though her stay with Toriel varied in duration from one run to the next, he always knew when she would exit the Ruins. His hyper-awareness of her did not stop there, either. He knew generally where she was all the time. It was how he was always at his station– or at his telescope, or in front of the hotel, or the corridor in Asgore's castle– when she passed by. He reclined in his chair, propping his legs up on the table. He was waiting for her to come to work.

Sometimes, they came together, taking his shortcut. Others, she wanted to walk. He did not blame her either. Waterfall was a nice walk if one was feeling up to it. Which he rarely was. He had not yet started cooking. In fact, he had not even flipped the sign to 'Open.' He was all for postponing opening until she arrived.

There was suddenly dread running up and down his spine. That was new.

It had to be the kid.

What had she got herself into this time?

He focused and followed the feeling out of his booth and into a shortcut that he had never seen. He knew that, somehow, it would take him directly to Frisk.

Apparently, he had developed a danger meter for her too.

* * *

She had forgotten how unprepared she had started this run. And as previous runs taught her, if it started out badly, it ended that way too.

This one was no exception.

The newness of this one was refreshing after so much of the same. But it was also so very dangerous. Doing the same thing over and over, one gets used to it, no matter how tired of it one gets. But the moment things start going in a different direction, it is possible to forget what should be done.

Like every time before, Undyne ended up finding her. Like every time before, the warrior was dead set on taking her soul. Like every single time before, she decided to throw her spear at her target. Frisk always dodged to the right. Every time, without fail, she had jumped right. It was instinct. Automatic.

Frisk took a step to the left.

And immediately regretted it as the spear ran through her and pinned her to the wall. Undyne stalked toward her, a new spear in hand. She groaned inwardly. She was going to die. Again.

But then, Undyne was stopped in her tracks as something whacked her in the back of the head, sending her helmet flying. She whipped around and ran out of the room to pursue her attacker. Before she had even cleared the doorway, Sans was there, yanking the spear out and picking Frisk up. They were through a shortcut and in his room before she could even register that he had come for her. The ball of blankets turned blue with his magic as he tossed it off the bed and laid her down. He patted down her pockets and sighed in relief as he found a Cinnamon Bunny. He ripped off a piece and stuffed it in her mouth. The bite recovered enough HP for her to regain her senses.

"Wha– " He cut her off by stuffing another piece into her open mouth.

"don't talk. eat."

She obeyed. The Cinnamon Bunny brought her to full HP. As she swallowed, she realized her shirt was ruined. The wound was, of course, gone. But the hole in her shirt and the blood stains? Not so much. She was glad she had not been wearing the hoodie. It was her favorite. She then wondered which iteration the state of her clothing began bugging her more than nearly fatal wounds. Then again, blood stains on her clothing were a regular thing _before_ she had entered the Underground...

"you awake and aware again, yet?"

She jumped, startled. "Um, yeah."

"so, undyne knows about you now."

She grimaced. "Seems like it."

"let's hope she doesn't realize that i threw that bone at her head. it's bad enough that she's after one of us."

"Thanks for that, by the way."

He waved her off. "just try not to die."

She made the mistake of blinking when she tried to reply. He had, in typical Sans fashion, disappeared.

* * *

A/N: And here's number 5. Let's try to keep this pace.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	6. Comfort in Routine

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Comfort in Routine

* * *

They were more careful now. When she went to work, she always went with Sans through his shortcut. She avoided Waterfall altogether. Both of them carried food in their pockets now. Having Undyne as an enemy was no laughing matter. Frisk was sure that if this was a game, Undyne would be the protagonist with all of her unwavering determination. The fact that she was Papyrus' hero did not help matters. On more than one occasion, she entered the front door only to hear the warrior's loud voice as she gave Papyrus his cooking lesson. She would be yanked backwards and find herself in a new place entirely, the hood of her jacket clenched within Sans' fist.

He had impeccable timing.

She just wished he would not leave her in the random places he spirited her away to.

* * *

He realized that the notion of innumerable things had become a recurring thing in his life. Countless jokes to make, countless bottles of ketchup to drink, countless resets to live. And now, countless distractions in the form of a little slip of a girl. She always found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He would be at one of his jobs when a tingle up his spine would warn him that she was, once again, stepping right into a situation of mortal peril. He would step into a shortcut, lean out just enough to grab her, and step through another shortcut that took them as far away from the rampaging Royal Guard leader as possible. He would nod in greeting and immediately step back to return to whatever he was doing.

The first time he had left her in a place that was unfamiliar to her, it had been an accident. The rent was due and, with the remodeling he had needed to do to the living room after Papyrus had jumped through the wall, he was more than just a bit short. Admittedly, it was partially his own fault for doing the bare minimum to get by. He generally worked on commission and, honestly, he preferred making exactly what he needed before ditching. Papyrus did not call him lazy for no reason. Either way, he could not afford to leave work for long. So he had taken her to a place where Undyne could not possibly reach her in the duration of his shift.

It was not until he had returned home after work that he realized that Frisk probably had no idea how to get back. But before he could even think of going back for her, the front door had swung open. She had miraculously found her own way back. Which made little sense because he had left her on an island in Hotland's sea of lava. Apparently, she had flirted with a passing Tsunderplane until it lowered itself enough for her to grab hold.

Her scowl and rant at him leaving her behind had been incredibly amusing.

So naturally, he left her in non-lethal, challenging situations every single time now.

She did not seem to pick up on the fact that he was doing it on purpose. She would chastise him on leaving her in such awkward situations. He would say 'my bad' and go on to ask her how she had gotten back. She would recount the stories as he requested, no matter how embarrassing. They were always hilarious. And he was frequently impressed with her resourcefulness. No wonder Papyrus had so much fun creating puzzles with her.

This was his favorite run so far, added work notwithstanding.

* * *

Night time was for serious conversations. For finding ways to progress passed this loop that always forced them back to the beginning. At this point it was mostly busy work. Deciding which events needed to happen and those that they should avoid. And endlessly comparing notes.

"How were things out here when I stayed with Toriel?"

"which time? how long did you stay with her?"

"I mean, the loop where I didn't leave the Ruins at all."

"...from what i can remember, you always leave the ruins."

It took time to fill in all the memories he was missing. It took even longer to find anything that might be relevant with all the information they had to sift through.

* * *

They both needed to de-stress after their long conversations. They would flop onto the couch, side by side. Sans would levitate a couple of bottles of ketchup from the kitchen into his hands. He would hand Frisk one of them every time. Stubborn girl that she is, she would take it, facing his implied challenge head-on. She only choked down a single gulp from the bottle each time before handing it over, but it always inspired an odd mix of amusement and pride in Sans. Determination, indeed.

* * *

A/N: Just a little snippet on how life is going for our duo now. Mostly filler and transition.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	7. Reset

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Reset

* * *

Sans had fallen asleep on the couch.

Seeing him now, she realized that the familiar sight, was not familiar at all in this iteration. She suddenly felt like a terrible friend. Sans had been working non-stop. She had never seen him so active. While he still went from job to job as usual, his frequent breaks had ceased living up to their name. Compared to her re-telling in their nightly sessions, the holes in his memory seemed obvious and gaping. She could tell that he found the idea hard to accept after spending so much time thinking he was the only one in the know. While having no control over resets made him feel vulnerable, the thought that he was missing much more than he had anticipated was disheartening. It was all sorts of heartbreaking whenever she returned late just to see the light from beneath his bedroom door. Sometimes, she sat against it, listening to the sound of rustling paper and scratching pens. He was trying so hard.

It worried her, especially since she could remember multiple iterations where he had simply given up, watching her– not her, the thing that sometimes possessed her – as she exterminated the monsters in the Underground.

Frisk was filled with determination. She would cheer him up and, hopefully, let him know it was okay to take his time fitting everything together.

She put on the black hoodie– the only borrowed article of clothing that she refused to give back– and laced up her boots tightly. She was going to make him a whole 'Be Happy Please' gift basket. She frowned. She was not quite as bad as Asgore when it came to naming, but the name was still horrible. She made a mental note to work on it. Carefully, she pulled her blanket over him, wondering if skeletons even got cold. She made it two steps away before she doubled back and tucked him in. Then, she stepped out into the cold weather outside.

* * *

Frisk was walking back, gift basket in hand. She was still going over potential names for it. In it, she had two premium bottles of ketchup (apparently the brand mattered though she could never tell the difference), an authentic leather-bound papyrus paper journal (she hoped he would prefer the organized quality of a journal to his many stacks of loose paper), a fountain pen engraved with his name in comic sans font (she thought he'd appreciate the pun), and a pack of socks and construction paper (to add to the trash tornado in his room).

She never saw Undyne coming.

* * *

Frisk woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

She sat up and sighed, "And things were going so well."

* * *

Sans woke up wrapped up like a burrito on the couch. The kid had some serious tucking in skills. He rolled off the couch and fell onto the floor with a loud thud. He wriggled out of the warm cocoon. It was the best nap he had had in a long time. Turning the pinpricks of light in his eye-sockets on and off as he shook away the haze of sleep, he knew something was wrong. He could not feel Frisk at all.

He stepped through time and space to reach his brother.

He reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "hey–"

"AHHH! SANS! I HAVE TOLD YOU NOT TO SNEAK UP BEHIND ME! YOU NEARLY CAUSED ME TO RUIN MY SNOW SCULPTURE OF THE HUMAN!" True to his word, there was now a snow sculpture that looked like Frisk between the snow sculpture of Papyrus and the lump of snow with 'Sans' written on it. If the unsettled feeling in his bones was not there, he was sure he would find his brother's attempts to include the kid in their lives amusing.

"my bad. is the kid with you?" He already knew the answer.

"NO! I WOULDN'T WANT TO RUIN THE SURPRISE! THE SCULPTURE IS A GIFT!"

"that's great, pap. do you know where she is?"

"SHE WAS NOT HOME WHEN I LEFT. SHE IS NO DOUBT FROLICKING ABOUT, PUTTING MY PUZZLE-MAKING LESSONS TO GOOD USE."

Oh no. "...any chance you know where undyne is?"

Papyrus lit up at the thought of his role model. "SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE PATROLLING AROUND SNOWDIN TODAY. APPARENTLY– "

Sans did not stay to hear the rest.

* * *

The resets were never automatic. Whether it was caused by Frisk's death or forced, there was a period of time before everything was reset. Finding Frisk face down with a spear through her back, he knew she had been gone for a while. He turned her. She was holding a basket to her chest. He picked her up and teleported to his room. He sighed, laying her down on his bed. It was time to wait out the rest of this run.

The basket slipped out of her arms and toppled off the bed, spilling across the floor.

"oh, kid." He murmured, picking up a piece of paper from the mess. It had the phrases 'Be Happy Please,' 'It'll Be Alright' and 'We've Got This!' all crossed out before 'Be Happy Please' was re-written in the space left in the corner. He sat on the floor and looked through the rest. He downed both ketchup bottles immediately. Crumpled all the construction paper and tossed it into his trash tornado along with the unopened pack of socks. He laughed bitterly as he saw his name on the pen. He opened the journal and laughed more genuinely. On the first page was a recognizable but crude drawing of his brother with a speech bubble saying 'THE GREAT PAPYRUS ON PAPYRUS PAPER? GENIUS!' He flipped the page and scribbled something down. He pulled a large black box from under his bed. Opening it, he shoved around notes and other knick knacks from previous runs until he had freed enough space to place the notebook and pen within it. Scooting it back under the bed with his foot, he glanced at the body in his bed before turning away.

He had something to do.

* * *

He was in Undyne's house less than a moment after leaving his home, not bothering with the door. The fish woman was sitting at her dining table, head in her hands.

"sup?"

She startled and looked up. "Oh. Hey Sans."

"you look a little down, buddy. want to talk about it?"

"I," she paused, shaking her head. "I'm fine."

Sans stared.

Undyne broke down. "I think I might have killed a monster!"

"...what?"

"You know that there was that human I was chasing right? I had never seen a human in real life before and she looked like the humans in Alphys' books. She kept getting away somehow and I was getting so frustrated. So I saw her today and got the jump on her."

"what does that have to do with you killing a monster?"

"I think she was one! Human souls, they're supposed to persist after death, right? But hers, it snapped in two and disappeared."

Sans' left eye took on a blue hue. "hey, buddy. it's okay. i know for a fact that it was really a human."

Her body relaxed as the tension left her body. "Really? That's a relief."

"why don't you just work off the stress like usual? i'll even be your sparring partner."

"Thanks. That actually sounds like it might help."

"that's what friends are for."

* * *

Undyne was laying on the ground at Sans' feet, unable to stand. She looked up a the skeleton with wide eyes. Other than Asgore, she had never been beaten. Even then, never so easily once she became leader of the Royal Guard. "W-what the hell, Sans?"

"enraging, isn't it? bet it hurts a bit too. you know that feeling right there? of being wronged, being hurt by someone much stronger than you, of not deserving it because you hadn't done anything wrong? i want you to remember it because that was what the human felt when you killed them."

"What..."

"you see, that human... was my friend. humans. monsters. we're all just people. we can be mean or cruel, but it all depends on choice. you, without ever exchanging a word with her, without knowing her likes or dislikes, with no regard at all to her friends or family, decided it was okay to kill her."

"Sans..."

He took a step toward her, eye-sockets pitch black. "and it wasn't. it is _not okay_. do you understand?"

She cringed. "I-I understand."

"good. see ya."

He turned and walked away.

Undyne would not remember.

But it made him feel better anyway.

* * *

A/N: No, this was not an excuse to have Sans dunk someone. It serves a lot of purposes. It establishes that, even with the resets, death is striking and important. Frisk and Sans are in it for the long run. There is no confusion about them being partners now. Undyne may not remember losing quite handily to Sans but the event will actually have relevance soon (next chapter in fact if things pan out the way I want them to).

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	8. Catching Up

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Catching Up

* * *

Sans woke up to his brother yelling to him from downstairs.

"SANS! I AM LEAVING TO PREPARE MORE TRAPS FOR HUMANS! TODAY WILL BE THE DAY! FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE AND RECALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES!" he called, slamming the door behind him.

Sans rolled out of bed. It seemed he was back at the beginning. Again. He stared at the ceiling and tried to remember what happened in the last run. His mind drew a blank and he knew he would need to go through his faithful black box to jumpstart whatever memories he could actually recover. Opening the box, he found the usual slightly crumpled papers among other things he had saved. This time, they were arranged around a notebook and pen he did not remember. Examining the pen and journal, he laughed harder than he had in a long time. Whoever gave this to him really got his sense of humor.

''their drawing skills could use a bit of work though," he mumbled to himself.

He flipped the page and could recognize his own handwriting. It said:

 _gift from the kid_

 _cause of death: undyne_

 _check_ _hotland_

 _protect the kid_

There was a folded up piece of paper taped to the paper. There was a arrow drawn towards it with the caption:

 _get ready to be angry. go to the next page to calm down._

He unfolded the piece of paper and read it. 'Be Happy Please.' It was always disorienting regaining memories. One by one, memories flitted through his skull. Frisk sleeping on their couch. Frisk doing all his work at the hot dog stand. Dropping Frisk into odd situations with the promise of laughs when she found her way home. Waking up wrapped up so tight in her blanket that he considered teleporting out of it. Frisk face down in the snow with a blue spear through her back. A gift basket.

The fury returned with the memory. He barely held himself back from leaving to find the fish woman. Gritting his teeth, he obeyed his notes and flipped the page. Written on the page were two words that had been penned so hard that they left indentations on all the papers behind.

 _ **visiting undyne**_

The memory that returned was a violent one. His grin turned sadistic. Good. He had already taken care of it. Tucking the journal and pen back into the box, he hid it once again under the bed. It was time to check out Hotland.

* * *

Frisk was worried as the door to the Ruins closed behind her. She was more prepared this time. She was wearing a long-sleeved sweater and jeans. It provided a much better defense against the cold than what she was wearing last time but it was still unbelievably cold. Her worry grew as she walked passed the gate and the sentry station without seeing Sans. She wondered how much he remembered. She entered the clearing of the first puzzle and walked right through. It seemed that Papyrus had not created his puzzle yet in this iteration.

"hey kid."

She jumped and turned to see Sans standing behind her. "You scared me!"

"yep," he said, grin widening. He extended his arm out to her, familiar black hoodie folded over it. "thought you'd want this back, seeing as you wore it almost every day."

She blushed but took it eagerly, pulling it on right over her sweater. "Wait, you remember then?"

"everything important i think. and as for what i didn't remember, it was all explained on this little thing." he replied, waving a tape recorder in his hand.

At her questioning gaze, he pressed play. Their first serious conversation in Hotland played back. She gaped. "You recorded that?"

He shrugged. "easier than writing everything down."

They began walking in the direction of Snowdin.

Frisk suddenly realized something. "Wait! Where's Papyrus? We should have run into him by now."

"nah. we'll get to him eventually. i convinced him to make his puzzles starting in snowdin before moving over this way instead of the other way around. i needed some time to get memories back but i still wanted to meet with you first."

She nodded. It made sense.

"want to do something different this time?" There was an odd note of humor in his tone.

She looked at him in askance. He took the look as agreement and pulled a blanket out of thin air. He immediately rolled her into it and picked up the resulting Frisk burrito. He kept walking as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Sans, what are you doing?"

"making pap proud."

"Wha–"

"SANS!" Papyrus called, barreling through ten trees into the clearing. "HAVE YOU FOUND A– A HUMAN!"

"yep."

"YOU'VE DONE IT! WHAT DEVIOUS JAPES DID YOU EMPLOY TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN?"

"junior jumble."

"THAT'S... THAT'S BRILLIANT! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT IF YOU TRIED! WAIT UNTIL I TELL UNDYNE!" Papyrus was overjoyed.

"actually, can you not?"

"WHY?"

"i kind of like this one. since i captured her, i think i should get to keep her if i want."

Papyrus' eye-sockets went wide with surprise. "KEEP HER?"

"yeah. we're friends."

"FRIENDS?" She had no idea that eye-sockets could get that big.

"yep. in fact," he paused, turning to look at her meaningfully. "she's very friendly. she'd probably want to be your friend, too."

The tall skeleton looked at her hopefully.

She easily took the opportunity to skip a couple of steps. "I'd love to be your friend. You're really cool. Be my hero and teach me how to make puzzles?"

He made an airy high-pitched noise of excitement. "OF COURSE, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO DO THAT FOR YOU!"

Sans stepped in. "if you're her hero, she'll have to stay with us too."

"GLORIOUS! I SHALL PREPARE THE COUCH FOR HER!" He bolted away.

She wriggled about until she could look Sans' in the eye-socket. "You know, I'm really glad your brother takes everything at face value. It really speeds thing up."

He nodded and resumed walking.

"Are you going to let me down?"

"nope."

She squirmed deeper into the blankets.

"you're not going to insist i put you down?"

"Nope. It's warm."

* * *

A/N: A new run has just started and everything is more or less already back to how they should be. Good for them! I wanted to show everyone how Sans memories work. Hope I did it well. Also, I really hope there is fanart somewhere of Sans carrying a Frisk blanket burrito though I doubt it. Actually, I just like the idea of any of the Undertale characters wrapped up as a blanket burrito. Maybe I should learn how to draw.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	9. Unhealthy Behavior

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Unhealthy Behavior

* * *

It was only a matter of time before Undyne would show up in the new iteration. The Underground only stretched so far. And for all that she hated Hotland for its heat, she was serious about her job. Sans, as usual, noticed her approach first and promptly shoved Frisk into the only locker in the room. From the slits in the locker, she could see the warrior come up to the stand. Sans held a hot dog out to her, wordlessly asking if she wanted one. She declined.

"Seen any humans yet?"

"yep." From her position inside the locker, an unworried Frisk rolled her eyes. No one ever took him seriously when he answered like that.

She gave him an unamused look. "Yeah, right. Man, I just wish one would come down here already! We could break out of here!"

"yeah? what would you do if you found one down here?" he asked casually.

"I'd take their stupid soul, of course! Then all of us could go back to the surface where we belong!"

"just like that, huh?" Something in the air changed.

Undyne took a small step away from the window, a hint of confusion in her face. "...Yeah. Of course. Wouldn't you?"

Sans looked like he did not have a care in the world as he shrugged. "i'm a bit curious, myself. i think i'd want to talk to it a bit first."

She shifted. Frisk could see some cooling dirt fall from her armor. "That's dumb."

Sans hummed noncommittally in response.

An awkward pause.

"I-I'd better move on to Snowdin to make sure Papyrus is doing his job." Her voice was missing some of its usual exuberance.

"see ya."

She was gone soon after.

Frisk counted to a hundred before risking leaving her hiding place.

"I saw that," she said. "She was shivering when she left."

"was she? i didn't notice."

She reached out to grip his sleeve in her hand. "Sans, we've spent way too long having to keep things from everyone. If nothing else, we should at least be honest to each other."

"i didn't do anything."

"Look at me when you say it."

He met her gaze finally. "i didn't do anything," he repeated.

She stared. He stared back. He had long since become a great liar. But Frisk knew better than that now.

He caved. "fine. as pap would say, i did a violence."

Her grip tightened. "Did you..."

"kill her? no."

She relaxed only slightly. "...why?"

"she killed you."

"You knew I'd come back!"

"and that makes it okay?"

"Yes! It does!"

"no it really, **really doesn't.** "

Frisk went silent. Sans moved out of her grasp to lean against the wall.

"it made me feel better at the time."

She was not looking at him. "...do you regret it?"

He knew what his answer should be. 'Yes, of course.' But she was right. They owed each other honesty if for nothing else but the fact that they could only be honest to each other. "no... but i know that i should."

She moved to stand next to him, leaning on the same wall. She was quiet for a long time. "Did it...," she swallowed hard. "Did talking about it make you feel better?"

He turned to look at her. Her gaze was firmly locked to a mustard stain on the carpet. They were not talking about him anymore. Regardless, he was surprised that he felt lighter after revealing what he had done. "yeah, actually. i think it did."

The silence from her end stretched. It seemed she had something of her own to confess.

He pushed. "it's hard not to take advantage of it sometimes, isn't it? knowing that it will all be reset and no one will remember any of it. they may have a feeling sometimes, but just a few iterations later, even that is gone. i wouldn't blame you if you did it a couple times yourself. people can do weird things– desperate things even– when they feel like they're all alone."

Nothing but the sound of her breathing.

"just come out and say it, kid." He paused. "did you do a violence?"

She was trembling as she shook her head.

"then what is it?"

"I died."

He frowned. "i know that–"

"On purpose."

He froze in surprise. Then, he was suddenly in front of her, hand underneath her chin, making her look at him. He waited for her to speak.

She spoke, stumbling over her words. "She wanted me to call her 'mom.' I did. I wanted to. But I had to leave the Ruins and she wouldn't let me leave. She... she fought me... Sans, she killed me."

He pulled her close, holding her and moving them so they were both sitting on the ground. She was crying now. He knew she wasn't done yet.

"I knew that first time was an accident. Could see it in the horror on her face. The next time, she held back even more. But I was already angry. Vindictive. She told me she would protect me. So I ran into her magic. I _made_ her beat me. Burn me. Over and over. Just to see the look on her face. Just to see the guilt. Just to prove to myself that she really cared."

He carded a hand through her hair, comforting her. With her face burrowed into the fabric of his hoodie he could barely make out her muffled words.

"Parents aren't supposed to hit their children."

–

He was infinitely glad that Papyrus was already asleep when they got home. Frisk, having exhausted herself crying, had eventually fallen asleep. He wrapped her into a Frisk burrito, knowing she liked the feeling of being surrounded by the plush blanket. It always made her giggle when she woke up. He hoped it would hold true in the morning. Looking down at the lumpy changed-filled couch that she had never complained about, he felt like it would be wrong to leave her alone. Being one who trusted his instincts, he brought her to his room. He laid her down on his bed and scooted in beside her. Even with the thick blanket wrapped around her, he most of his mattress was free. She was so small.

He would just watch her through the night to make sure she was okay. He could sleep during his shift tomorrow. Frisk always did twice as much work as he ever did anyway.

Sans fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Here we see the difference between the two. A couple chapters before we saw that when Sans breaks down he gets destructive. Here, we see that when Frisk breaks down she gets self-destructive. Very different ends of the spectrum as these two have always been. Sans gives people a bad time. Frisk takes the violence people dish out and pets the enemy.

Also, more hints on Frisk's less-than-happy backstory. I'm not sure if I'll keep it as implied or if I might go a bit deeper into it.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	10. Preparation

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Preparation

* * *

Sans woke up to a giggling, wriggling Frisk burrito. He was relieved to see that even though her eyes were still a bit puffy from the previous day's crying, she seemed in good spirits. At the moment, she had yet to realize that she had woken him and was attempting to free herself from the blanket. He watched as she managed to turn herself completely around, now face down on his bed, hair fanning out around her. She was breathing hard from the effort. He wondered amusedly how long she had been at it before he had woken. She let out another laugh that was muffled by his sheets. Sans could practically feel the determination radiating from her body as she began struggling again. The blanket did not loosen, but she did end up face to face with him.

She blinked in surprise as she realized he was awake.

"having fun?"

She nodded vigorously, a wide smile on her face.

"need a hand?"

She squirmed a bit more before she admitted that she did, in fact, need some help. In response, blue magic surrounded her, picking her up. The blanket unraveled itself seemingly on its own, coming loose and shifting so it was draped around her like a cloak. Now she was free but still warm. Sans rolled off the bed and gestured at her to follow. She scooted off the bed...

...and found herself in the middle of Grillby's. She noted that it was surprisingly full for the morning. Sans led her to a table in the back.

Settling in, she remarked, "That shortcut, teleporting thing you do is really disorienting, you know?"

"yeah. it's easier when you know where you're going."

"Which you never tell me."

He just grinned.

"So why are we here?"

"It's been a while since I had Grillby's breakfast," he said, shrugging.

Frisk did not even know they served breakfast here. When breakfast was served soon after, they ate in silence. Sans finished his meal in mere moments while Frisk took longer than usual as she tried to refrain from getting food on the blanket still wrapped around her. When she finished, she looked up at Sans. As expected from Grillby's, the breakfast was delicious, but he would have sat them at the bar if they were just going to eat and chat casually.

"i think it's time we started planning what we should do," he stated, pulling out a notebook and pen from an inner jacket pocket. He also set a tape recorder down on the table.

Frisk straightened. They were finally going to take some action towards ending the loops.

"first, i think we need to break down the problem."

She nodded.

"how do they work? the resets, i mean."

She frowned. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

"you said you've forced them before."

"Like I said, normally I just die. The prompt comes up and I agree to do it all over again. The few times I did reset without dying don't really help much either. It's usually when I'm not in control of my body. After I've been used to... you know. The only way I can describe it is, I have to really want to go back to the start. I have to be desperate. Hopeless."

From across the table, she could see Sans scribble 'determination?' under a line that read 'how?'

"now we have something for the 'how' and the 'why.' in your particular case at least. the 'what' are the resets obviously. we have the 'who' that we talked about. flowey and whoever that unwanted passenger of yours is. speaking of which, you never gave me a name. you don't know it?"

She paled. The name whispered along the back of her mind.

Sans leaned closer. "you do?"

A stiff nod.

"well?"

She shook her head and whispered, "It comes if you call it."

He leaned back in his chair, considering. "... i think i still need to know. think it'll still come if you write it down?"

She did not know. Sans pushed his notebook over to her side of the table. With a shaking hand, she wrote down the name 'Chara.' As soon as her hand lifted from the tail of the last 'a,' she could hear laughter in her head. She let her head fall back against her chair with a loud thunk as a sound between a whimper and a sob escaped her throat. It had been so long since the last reset where she had not been in control of her body. Sans immediately tensed and his eye went blue.

"is it coming?"

She shook her head, sliding the notebook back over. "Not this time. Next time probably... I'm not sure how many it will stay for."

Sans pinched the area between his eye-sockets and groaned. "at least i've got a little warning this time."

She sighed. "Promise me something?"

"you know i hate making promises."

"Do it anyway."

He rolled his wrist, prompting her to go on.

"I know you can't get into the Ruins so you can't really help me there. But, when I get out of there, make sure I don't hurt anyone else, okay?"

" 's not you, kid."

"Right," she murmured. "So, promise?"

He held her gaze for a bit before relenting. "yeah, kid. i'll put you down."

"Thanks," she replied, genuine relief in her voice.

A pause. Then, "anything else you can tell me?"

She contemplated for a while. "Flowey can't reset unless he gains power somehow. I don't know why but he lost the ability to reset when I arrived."

"so he was able to do it before you..." He was writing in the journal again.

"And... it," she said, pointedly looking at the notebook. "can reset whenever it wants. But only if it's in control of my body. As for the 'where' and 'when,' I wasn't able to do this before I came down here."

At that moment, a waitress came by to ask if they wanted anything else. Patrons and staff alike were starting to shoot glances at the pair. They had been sitting there a long time.

"We should go."

He nodded and took them home.

* * *

A/N: Well, that makes it pretty obvious where I'm going with this. However, progress has been made! I had to sneak in the fluff at the beginning. It was just too tempting. Took the day off from writing yesterday to plan out some stuff for the story. I've got flow charts and Venn diagrams now. Haha.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	11. Stat Boost

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Stat Boost

* * *

Frisk had been scarce lately. Aside from the times where they worked together, he barely saw her at all. It was almost like she did not live with them. There was little evidence of her presence. He knew that she ate– the state of the fridge and the dishes that appeared in the sink attested to that– affording him a small amount of relief. Her blanket was always folded neatly next to the couch when he got up in the morning. He would not admit it, but he had several times woken up earlier hoping to catch a glimpse of her. No such luck. He sincerely hoped she was getting enough sleep. Sans had noticed her increasing absence but had kept his peace, assuming that whatever issue she had she would solve on her own. She was a stubborn little thing and he had never been one to pry. But even Papyrus, lovable oblivious skeleton that he was, had begun to notice. The taller brother had expressed his growing concern multiple times already. Which was how Sans found himself sitting on the empty couch wide awake at five in the morning. This was by far the earliest he had ever woken and, sure enough, Frisk was already gone. Well, he would sit and wait until she came in for breakfast, or brunch, or lunch even. He frowned. He hoped she did not return later than an appropriate time for lunch. She should be eating more than that. Since she had moved in, he had found humans needed food more often than monsters.

His wandering thoughts were cut off as the front door opened, the girl in question stepping into the warm home.

He hopped up. "Frisk–"

She whirled around, surprised. "Oh! Sans, what are you doing up so early?"

She spoke between pants of breath and he took her image in for the first real time in a weeks. Her skin was flushed and shiny. Her hair was plastered to her face and neck with sweat. She was wearing the ever-present black hoodie and a pair of sweatpants that he recognized were his since he had been looking for them for a while. What had she been doing? Apparently, he had stared too long as she suddenly flushed deeper and looked down at herself. She curled in on herself slightly in embarrassment, then turned away.

"Can't talk. Gross and sweaty. Need a shower. Talk to you after. Okay? Cool," she said in a rush as she ducked down the hall into the bathroom.

He stared at the spot she had been standing in for a moment longer. Huh. That was weird. He sat back down on the couch. Knowing that she was not going to disappear, he could easily wait a bit longer. After not seeing her outside of work for weeks, it was incredibly relieving to hear the sound of rushing water and knowing that she was home. While he could not hear clearly, he could faintly make out the sounds of her talking to herself, the tone sounding vaguely flustered. He chuckled. She really was a natural at providing entertainment. When he heard the water shut off, he sat up, knowing she would return soon.

Except for the fact she didn't.

Sans listened more closely, attempting to find out the reason for her delay. With the water off, it was easier to hear her, though he still could not understand the words she was saying. She sounded... frustrated? Finally, she went silent and he could hear the creaking of the bathroom door opening. He heard the soft footsteps padding down the hallway towards him. But just before she stepped into the living room, the footsteps halted with her still out of view. He cocked his head curiously and turned towards the archway she should have emerged from. Another incoherent mumble, a sigh, and she finally stepped into the room.

His face flushed to match her own.

She tried to play off the embarrassment by holding her head up high and not looking at him. Her efforts were mostly ruined by the glances she shot his way as she walked up to the cabinet installed next to the television which housed her clothes. She had forgotten to take some in with her when she took her shower. The white-knuckled grip she had one her towel did not escape either of their notice. She blocked the view of her clothes in the cabinet with her body as she looked through them.

Sans cleared his (non-existent) throat, blue blush still burning bright. "um, kid?"

There was an undeniable wavering in her voice as she replied, "Yeah, Sans?"

"you, uh... you're wearing a towel," he pointed out unnecessarily.

"...yeah," she said softly. "I forgot my clothes."

"yeah," he responded, having nothing else to say.

"Yeah," she parroted back, shifting awkwardly in front of the cabinet as she continued searching for clothes.

Silence.

Finally, she turned, clothes bunched up against her chest, and said, "I'm going to get dressed... I'll, um, be right back."

He definitely did not watch her walk away.

As the click of the bathroom door closing sounded again, Sans allowed himself to sink into the couch, a large whoosh of breath leaving him. That was incredibly awkward. Moments later, a fully-dressed Frisk shuffled back into the room, self-consciously tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear. She settled down on the couch without looking at him. Sans made the deliberate choice to forget about what had just happened.

"That was... really awkward." Apparently, Frisk had different ideas. Then again, remembering the all the embarrassing stories she had willingly told him after all the inconvenient situations he had left her in last time around, he figured she must have some sort of complete honesty fixation or verbal diarrhea. Whatever her reason, it seemed like they had to talk about this now.

"you aren't kidding. what was that all about?"

"I made a judgment call. I'm not sure I made the right one," she groaned, burying her red face in her hands.

His curiosity got the best of him. "what do you mean?"

She did not raise her head. Her reply was muffled but understandable. "I decided it was somehow less mortifying to come out in a towel and get my clothes myself than to ask you to get them for me."

He made an odd disbelieving sound with his (still non-existent) throat. "how is that less embarrassing?"

She looked up at him as if he was missing something obvious.

"what?"

She gestured towards her body. "You'd have to go through my," she paused before continuing in a whisper. "...underthings."

The blue tint returned to his cheekbones with a vengeance. "oh... i take it back. you were right. what you did was i _much_ /i less embarrassing... for both of us."

Pink still dusted across her cheeks, Frisk finally decided to move things along. "So, why are you awake?"

He was relieved to return to the reason he was up. "been wanting to talk to you. sup?"

She thought a bit before answering. "I'm more optimistic than I've ever been knowing that I not going at it alone."

"but?"

She pulled her knees up to her chest. "But I also know that things aren't going to magically get better either. Not in a single loop. The resets, they'll keep coming. Some because of me, some not. And hearing i _its_ /i voice at Grillby's, I know there's a bad one coming up. A lot of them maybe. And I hate knowing that. So I thought that maybe if I was stronger I could stop it before hurting anyone. Or get enough control to force a reset before anything could even begin."

"start at the beginning, kid. i don't understand."

She turned to him. "Can you trigger a battle with me?"

He shifted uncomfortably. The very thought of seeing Frisk through a battle screen was repulsive.

She sighed. "I don't like the idea of seeing you in a battle setting either. We aren't going to actually fight, promise. I just need to show you something."

He gave a stiff nod and stood slowly, moving in front of her. "here we go."

Her soul was immediately called forth, the battle screen falling into place around them.

"so what have you got to show me?"

"I'm going to spare you. On your turn, I want you to check my stats."

 **Frisk → [Spare]**

 **Sans → [Check]**

" **Frisk"**

 **LV 1**

 **HP 20/20**

 **ATK 2 (0) (1)**

 **DEF 3 (0) (3)**

 **SPEED +3**

 **EXP 0 (NEXT: 10)**

Sans did a double take of the girl in front of him. She wasn't wearing anything to boost her stats but he knew that without anything she should be zeroes across the board with the exception of LV (which always started at 1 instead of 0) and HP (which she naturally had 20 of). He ended his turn.

 **Frisk → [Spare]**

The battle setting faded, soul returning to Frisk's body as Sans accepted her Mercy. He returned to his seat next to her on the couch and looked at her with confusion. She had gained no LV or EXP, but her stats had undoubtedly increased. He waved an arm, urging her to explain.

"Whether it helps me fight against its influence or not, I know I will probably have to fight against it eventually. So I figured there had to be a way to bring my stats up without having to hurt anyone. So I tried working out."

"and it works?" He had never really thought about it. Monsters worked in a completely different way from humans.

"It's really slow but yeah. I haven't found a way to get my natural HP up, if there is one, but my ATK and DEF goes up the stronger I get."

He considered the idea. "not a bad idea... but chances are that fight you're anticipating won't be in this loop. that's a lot of work to put yourself through every iteration."

"Not necessarily. I have a theory."

"well?"

"You know how I get to keep my memories? All of them? Through ever single loop?"

He nodded.

"I'm wearing the same clothes at the beginning of each one. We know time resets because nobody else remembers a thing. So if it isn't my body that holds my memory...," she trailed off, turning to him.

"it has to be your soul that does."

"That means even if the loop is restarted and my body set back to its 'basic' state, my soul doesn't. You saw the parentheses around the numbers next to ATK and DEF. The first set we know is the addition of equipped items. The last set though, I think it's my soul's. It has never showed up before. And if I always start with some sort of stats that aren't zero, even if it's just HP..."

Easily following the train of thought to its conclusion, he finished for her. "it implies that your beginning stats are tied to your soul. And if you bring up your natural stats and your soul doesn't change through the resets, you'd get to keep them."

"Exactly! Then I'd be able to fight back better!"

A worrying thought occurred to him. "but wouldn't that affect whatever-it-is's stats too?"

She shook her head. "It shouldn't. I'm still there when its in control. I can see everything it does. The battle scenes, the stats, they are all under its own name."

He let out an inward sigh of relief. An even stronger whatever-it-was was something he did not even want to think about. "well, the idea has merit. keep doing what you're doing. we could use any advantage we can get."

"Right!"

He grinned at her enthusiasm and ruffled her hair.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"it sounds like you're doing a good thing. but don't overdo it, kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Pap's starting to miss his sidekick."

She looked sheepish. "Oh. I guess I may be overdoing it just a bit."

He stomach growled out loud. Sans grinned wider at her flush.

"just a little bit, huh?"

"Shut," she yawned. "up."

He laughed. "humans have needs. eat then sleep. you can give the work a rest for a day."

"But–"

"do you want me to feed you again?"

"No! I'm lucky I didn't choke!"

–

A/N: And another one is finally up. Some awkward housemate moments happened because my shipper heart demanded it. Frisk is hard at work. Let's just hope her little theory is right. They need all the help they can get.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	12. An Ending

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

An Ending

* * *

Frisk leaned against the entryway wall of the kitchen, watching Sans as he rolled out pie dough. She shifted, reconsidering the decision she had made. She would miss this. She said nothing as he prepared the pan, fit the dough into it, and filled it with whatever sweet filling he had been craving this time. She could not tell from her position. It was not like she would be there to eat it anyway. Preparation done, he stopped, leaning hands on the counter.

"you gonna stare at me all day?"

"Maybe." It was preferable, at least compared to what she had been planning on doing.

He put the pie in the oven and turned to face her. "sup?"

"... I think it's time I moved on."

While he had not been moving before, he seemed to go unnaturally still.

"oh," he said, scratching the back of his skull with his hand. "how's it ending this time?"

"I don't know," she whispered sadly. "Undyne again, maybe? Asgore? Stat boost or not, those two are hard to dodge."

The rattling of bones as he shuddered was muffled beneath his thick jacket. "i meant, what ending are you gunning for this time?"

She tugged on a loose thread in her sleeve. "I'm hoping for another happy ending. Get to the surface. See the others happy. Maybe even get to see something new before we end up back at the start, you know?"

"sounds good."

The silence that followed seemed endless. They had both known that they would have to progress eventually, but they had liked the way that things were going right now. This stagnation, even with the inevitable reset hanging over them, was comfortable. Their nightly conversations and preparation were far from a waste of time, but they did nothing on their own. It bolstered their hopes– hopes that she would keep her new stats, that whatever was inhabiting her body could be removed, that the negating effect she had on Flowey's powers would persist after it was gone– but nothing could be proven. Not unless they tested it. And the only way to do that was to reach an ending. Sans took in her form, the slight expanding and contracting of her chest with her breaths, and hoped she would find the end the way she was right now. Healthy. Alive. She still did not have the control necessary to force the resets whenever she wanted and he knew the only viable way to trigger them was through the sadistic being within her head or her death. Both options were undesirable. He had not forgotten their talk at Grillby's.

"and next time around...," he trailed off.

"...it won't be me, yeah." He felt as upset as she looked at her answer.

"i'll keep my promise," he reassured her.

She smiled wanly at him and asked, "How messed up is it that I'm relieved that you're going to kill me on sight?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "about as messed up as the fact that i agreed to do it."

She hummed noncommittally. Then she held out the folded black hoodie she had been clutching to her chest the whole time. He made no move to take it.

"didn't you say you weren't going to give that back?"

She smiled cheekily, affecting more cheer than she really felt. "I'm not."

A ridge appeared on his skull, a skeleton's approximation of raising an eyebrow.

"After getting used to Snowdin weather, Waterfall isn't that cold. And Hotland is, well, hot. I want you to put it wherever you put the things you take with you into the next iteration."

He rolled the pinpricks of lights in his eye-sockets as he took it from her. "You know I could just give it to you normally. I'll have it when we start over."

She shook her head. "But it won't be mine. Not really anyway. I've saved up a lot of memories in this one. The next one won't."

He ruined her folding job as he slung it over one shoulder. "sure, kid. i'll keep it for you until you come back."

She looked much more optimistic. "Good. And since you'll have your own in the next one, we can match!"

His smile finally seemed genuine. "nerd. not happening."

Whatever retort she was going to give was cut off by the ding of the kitchen timer.

"got time for a snack before you go?"

"Butterscotch-cinnamon?" she asked hopefully.

"nah, it wouldn't live up to the one you're thinking about anyway."

"What kind then?"

"peach walnut," he replied as he opened the oven.

She glanced behind her at the front door.

"we've got vanilla ice cream."

Progression could wait a few more minutes.

"Okay."

* * *

She had run the short distance from their house to Waterfall, giving the snow little time to seep into her clothes. This time, there was no offer to grab a bite at Grillby's. But she had expected that. She had deliberately chosen to leave on one of Sans' days off. She got the feeling that he was avoiding her too, as she passed by his joke telescope standing abandoned by the wall. Good. That made it easier for her to leave. She wondered if he would be waiting for her when– if, she was not sure if she would make it that far– she reached the final corridor.

She did not.

* * *

In the end, it was Mettaton that did her in.

Sans had been sitting on the couch with Papyrus watching MTT. Maybe Alphys had seen her getting stronger through her cameras and overestimated her. Maybe they had allowed Mettaton too much time to prepare for her arrival. Whatever the reason, the questions had changed and Alphys was not there to provide her with answers. When Mettaton appeared, he had a contestant booth and chair ready for her. Frisk, as always, went with the flow.

Higher speed and defense aside, it was impossible to dodge electric attacks when strapped to a chair.

When Papyrus asked why she was shaking so hard after she got a question wrong, Sans said she was excited to meet a famous actor.

When she went still, Sans told him she had fallen asleep.

He had never been more glad that his brother took whatever he told him as truth.

* * *

After Papyrus had gone to sleep, Sans went back downstairs. He took the tape out of the VHS, glad that Papyrus always insisted on recording his favorite show. He slipped the video into his black box and updated the journal.

His last entry was:

 _ **visiting Mettaton and Alphys**_

He did not care that it was not healthy. The kid would forgive him.

* * *

The world reset.

* * *

A/N: Another one up. Poor Sans. I hate doing this to them, truly. We probably won't see Frisk for a bit, so be prepared for that.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	13. Promise

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Promise

* * *

Sans knew he was back at the beginning when he woke. After so many resets, it had become something ingrained within him. He listened to Papyrus call out the same goodbye that he always did on the first day of the cycle. At the slamming of the door, he rolled out of bed. He was, once again, glad that memories he retrieved – that is, the ones from previous iterations that he triggered to come back – seemed to stay permanently. If he had to trigger all of them every time, he was sure he would have gone insane long ago. He pulled out the black box and took stock of what seemed new.

A black hoodie and a tape. He knew he always updated the notebook.

"tape then notebook," he decided. He left the hoodie with the post-it note labeled "Frisk" inside the box.

He opted to go into his lab to watch it, not wanting to risk Papyrus seeing it if he returned early. Sliding the tape into the player, he could feel dread settling in his bones. This would not be pleasant.

* * *

Death by electric chair.

He had watched her die before. Multiple times, in fact. Repeated iterations made it unavoidable. But this immediately became his least favorite way to see her die. The way she convulsed, the erratic motion so wrong when contrasted with the abrupt stillness that followed. He hated the panic that widened her eyes when the straps snapped on, keeping her in place. He hated that she knew what was going to happen immediately, even if she had never gotten this ending before. The way her face went blank with resignation. How she knew that he was watching. The apologetic look in her eyes as she looked straight at the camera and mouthed 'Sorry.'

The rest of the MTT episode was nothing but a screen that read: 'Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By."

He did not need to read the notebook to know how he had reacted. He knew himself well enough. But even knowing that he had taken care of it last time around, he was still angry.

He threw the TV across the room instead of hurting friends who had done nothing wrong this time.

Then, he left.

He had a promise to keep.

* * *

Sans stood leaning against a tree, hands in pockets. His eye-sockets were dark, a skeleton's way of shutting their eyes. It was always quiet near the door. No monsters ever went this far. But he was waiting. Listening.

The door to the Ruins opened.

He did not turn, did not lift a finger, did not even look.

Magic flared. A cry of outrage and agony. Then silence.

There were no shortcuts this run. He took the long way home. He did not skip a single step on their stairs. He made his bed and plopped face-down onto it.

The world reset.

* * *

The only guarantee that she had been able to give him was that it would not be her the first loop after her death. He was not optimistic this run either.

Watching the door open, he was right.

* * *

Things were not right in this one either.

* * *

Or this one.

* * *

It was like being in a loop inside of the normal loop.

Wake up to Papyrus yelling at him from downstairs. Get out of bed. Wait in front of the door to the Ruins. The door opens. Dust on clothes. Magic. Red blood on white snow. Over and over again.

* * *

His journal entries had always been succinct, but he had not needed to turn the page in a while now. He had not needed to write a single word. The current page read 'Bad Run.' The rest of the page was tally marks, groups of twenty circled to make them easier to count at a glance.

* * *

Eighty.

He had never felt so tired. His skull was pounding and his whole body trembled. Even though he 'woke up' at the beginning of each reset, he had not actually slept. Marathoning all these iterations was starting to get to him. He glanced at the clock. He really needed to get up. Papyrus had left about an hour ago. He was wasting time. At this point he was not sure what took more out of him, the magic of using a shortcut or walking the whole way over.

He had barely been there a full minute when the door opened. It came at him immediately with a knife.

It never reached him.

* * *

Ninety-seven.

The second he found himself looking up at his bedroom ceiling again he teleported, wasting no time. Everything was sore. He had some time before its arrival. It took time to exterminate all the monsters in an area, no matter how many times it had done it before. He waited.

Sans fell asleep. Right in his defensive position in front of the door.

The door opened.

Sans did not wake up.

* * *

Ninety-eight.

Apparently, being dead was about as restful as actual sleep. Physically, at least. Emotionally, he was absolutely furious. It did not escape him that his being dead from the onset meant bad times for everyone else. And it still reset. It was playing with him.

Whatever. He was ready to go this time.

By the time he reached the door, it was already there. It was leaning against the door, causally twirling a knife in its hands. Though there was no visible dust upon its figure, it was obvious that it was not Frisk. The wide smile and happy flushed face as it looked down at the knife was evidence enough. It was striking how easy it was to tell them apart though they used the same body. It stood tall, confident in a way that Frisk was not. There was an inherent grace in its movements, like the predator it was. The cruel smile it gave as it turned to look at him looked wrong on her face. It only made him angrier.

"Sans," it greeted with a nod.

"demon," he greeted back.

The corners of its lips curled up more. "How rude. You know my name."

"the kid said not to use it. i'm inclined to follow her advice."

It laughed. "But I'm already here."

His left eye went blue and its red soul was pulled from its body as the battle scene settled around them. "well, i'm not giving you a reason to stay."

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

"She's not coming back, you know?"

 **Sans → [Fight] _Miss_**

It had dodged his initial attack almost easily. He hated that he was predictable.

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

"You've noticed it, haven't you? She's never been gone this long."

It giggled as his gaze turned furious.

 **Sans → [Fight]**

A bone ripped through its left wrist. Black vein-like marks spread throughout its arm as the poison took effect. It hissed in pain.

"y'know, i like it much better when i kill you straight outta the gate. this turn-based stuff takes so much time."

He was gratified to see the flash of anger in its eyes before its cheery disposition returned.

 **Chara → [Item] → [Monster Candy]**

It watched with satisfaction as the wound closed up.

"I'm innocent this time around, too. At this point, anyway. Pure as the snow we're standing on."

It twirled around, showcasing the lack of dust.

"I didn't kill a single monster in the Ruins. I even made sure to slip past the old woman without her noticing. I wanted you to be the first to die."

 **Sans → [Fight]**

It dodged the first three GasterBlasters but the fourth did not miss. It burned through its shirt sleeve and the side of its pants, the skin underneath bubbling.

"speaking of killing me, don't you know it's rude to kill a guy when he's sleeping?"

 **Chara → [Act] [Spider Donut]**

Its smile wavered for a moment. "Forget rude. It's unsatisfying. So I came back just for you. Of course, I finished everything properly first. Or should I say that I finished _everyone off_ properly first?"

 **Sans → [Fight] _Miss_**

He clenched his fist impatiently as his turn ended.

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

"Your brother was the best though. I didn't even try to hide my knife. But he stood there, trembling in fear, arms outstretched to offer me a hug. A hug of all things! Too dumb to live."

 **Sans → [Fight]**

He sent it flying into the trees. The sound of bones breaking was immensely satisfying.

 **Chara → [Item] → [Monster Candy]**

"He kept insisting that I could be a better person. He told me that he would teach me how. He talked about you too, before he died. Said that you would both be my friends. I wonder what he would have said if I told him you were dead. Maybe I should have told him that I killed you. I would have like to wipe the smile off his face just once."

He pulled his hands out of his pockets. He was ending this during his next turn.

* * *

Ninety-nine.

Sans woke up again and sighed. Killing it repeatedly was not enough and waiting did not seem to be a viable strategy anymore either. It had been right. She had never been away so long before. Something had to have gone wrong. He needed to get more information.

He would need to break his promise to Frisk.

He would make this iteration count.

* * *

A/N: Just a few bad runs. Mostly a transition chapter. The next one will have more substance. Hope you're all still with me.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	14. Evacuate

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Evacuate

* * *

He observed as the door opened, hidden within the surrounding trees. The demon stepped out into the snow, knife clenched within its fist. The deviation from routine made it cautious. It was, undoubtedly, expecting him to show up. It sat, tossing the knife up and catching it. It was waiting for him. An hour passed, then another. It was becoming impatient. It realized that he was not coming for it this time. A smug grin spread across its face. Standing, it cracked its neck.

It scanned the forest, knowing he was watching. They both knew that it would not be able to find him unless he let it. "Don't want to be the first to die? Fine, I'll allow it. I've got plenty of friends to fill up my free time until you're ready."

Then it turned and skipped back into the Ruins, the door closing and locking behind them with a soft click.

It did not take long for the screaming to start.

* * *

Sans teleported straight into Papyrus' room. Rummaging in the back of his closet, he picked up a bag that had been collecting dust since they had moved to Snowdin. He yanked clothes off their hangers, stuffing them into the bag. A quick glance told him he had managed to pack all necessities. He went on to put some of his favorite action figures in. Cramming them down into the bag, he managed to make enough room to slip in his brother's copies of 'Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds' and 'Peek-a-Boo with Fluffy Bunny.' He blinked downstairs to the kitchen. Grabbing an empty plastic bag from the cupboard beneath the sink, he filled it with all the containers of spaghetti in the fridge. He stopped midway into a shortcut to double back and drop a fork into the bag.

In the next moment he found himself in Undyne's house. Glancing at the clock, he knew she would not be home for at least another half hour. He dropped heavily onto a chair and waited restlessly. Twenty-two minutes. Drummed fingers against the table. Twenty. Bounced a leg up and down. He was starting to regret taking the shortcut. At least if he walked he would not be wasting so much time doing nothing. Nineteen. He jumped up from his place at her table and unshouldered the bag. Unzipping it, he dumped it out. He took his time separating the contents into categories. Sixteen minutes. Folded and refolded all the clothes, meticulously making sure there was not a single crease. Twelve. Separated clothing into tops and bottoms. Packed them back away. Ten. With the clothes folded, he was able to fit the containers of spaghetti into the bag too. He placed the books and action figures in last. Seven. He was about to unpack everything all over again when he heard the jingle of keys. Finally. She had finished her patrol early.

Noticing him as she opened the door, she blinked in surprise. "Sans? How did you get–"

"i need a favor," he interrupted, tossing the bag at her.

She barely managed to catch it. "What–"

"human," he answered simply. It was almost a lie but he had no intention of going into the whole 'demon possessing the human body of his friend' thing. He had no time to answer her questions. "dangerous. get pap out of here."

"Human?" she repeated incredulously. She seemed to stand straighter and excitement gleamed in her eyes. A blue spear appeared in her hand.

"no," he said firmly, wrenching her spear out of her hand and flinging it across the room with magic. "that's not what i asked you to do."

Her gaze went from him to her spear now embedded in the wall and back. Her posture tensed and she conjured another spear. She glared down at him. Her voice had all the authority of her position. "No stupid human is making us run. It's my job to take their soul and I'm doing it. Stand down."

His eye turned blue and Undyne was lifted into the air. A bone materialized and slammed against her spear, shattering it. "no, your job is to protect everyone."

Recognition flashed in her eyes and her gaze turned wary. While she still glared at him defiantly, she did not try to conjure another weapon. He must have made a real lasting impression when he fought her if she was still feeling it this many iterations after. Good. A healthy dose of fear made cooperation easier to wrangle.

" **evacuate** ," he commanded. "get pap out of here and keep him out."

"But–"

"he listens to you. make it an order. you know he could never hurt anyone."

"I can fight!" she insisted.

"you can also die," he retorted. "in fact, i guarantee that if you do fight, you will."

She squirmed in the air but was unable to escape his grasp. He held her gaze. Finally, she slumped and nodded. He let her down.

"that bag is for papyrus. get him as far away from here as you can," he spoke softly. "take the time to get alphys out of here too. they'll probably need her smarts."

At Alphys' name she seemed to become more receptive. She stood tall and nodded resolutely. She would make this her mission. At the doorway, she paused.

"What are you going to do, Sans?"

"find a way to stop this."

She accepted his answer and stepped out. He was relieved as he heard her start talking to Papyrus on the phone, urging him to meet her at Alphys' lab. He watched her through the window as she hung up and began running full out towards Hotland.

Then he teleported to his hidden lab.

* * *

Undyne was the Head of the Royal Guard for a reason. Within an hour after she left, members of the Royal Guard were stomping through Waterfall, ushering civilians out. By then, distress calls had been made reporting a human that was slaughtering monsters in Snowdin. A group of guards had been sent in to evacuate monsters in the growing massacre zone. When they did not return, they stationed guards at the border between Snowdin and Waterfall. They stood as a barrier meant only to buy time. It was understood that the monsters that resided in the winter city were beyond help.

The Royal Guard fell.

* * *

A/N: Lots of death, yo. Things are looking pretty grim right now, but things will get better soon. Still no Frisk but I promise she isn't gone. The next chapter is well underway.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	15. Not Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Not Alone

* * *

There were days when Sans felt like he was so alone, that he wanted to just give up. Undyne had evacuated everyone she could at his urging months ago. He had free, undisturbed reign of the entire abandoned Underground. When the string of bad runs started, he had tried to get through them as quick as possible. He had thought that maybe if he just kept his promise, brute forced the bad iterations no matter how the count climbed, she would come back. He had murdered the demon over and over, not bothering with other trivialities. But Frisk had not come back. With the marathon of bad iterations just shy of triple digits and a death of his own under his belt, he had known he needed to do something else.

The day this current iteration had started, he had honestly thought that she was gone for good. He thought that surely, with all her determination if she was still around she would have wrested control back by then. He had packed up Papyrus' bags, gotten Undyne to stage an evacuation, and planned to sequester himself in his lab for the rest of his life. For the first time since the run that started this whole messed up genocide loop, he set foot into his lab.

...and had been rewarded with the sound of paper crinkling beneath his foot.

He had shut the door behind him, locking it. The human body being more resilient to that of monsters made it easy for monsters to fall to their attacks, but unlike monsters they had no magic to get through physical obstacles. He would be safe here. He had sat at his cluttered desk and smoothed the crumpled paper flat. It read:

 _Sans,_

 _It's been a while since it's been me, hasn't it? I'm sure you've been counting how long I've been gone. I know I have. Number 97. Well, I'm in control now, though I didn't start this one that way._

 _You've been dead for a month now. It tore through the Ruins, cut down Toriel, and, finding you at the other side of the door, cackled as it murdered you in your sleep. And then it let me have my body back. Just like that. Apparently, it was trying to prove a point. It doesn't like us being friends._

 _I lied to Papyrus. I thought it was the right thing to do. He was, as always, really excited to meet a human. He looked for you. So I told him that I had already met you. I told him you had taken his advice and gone back to dentistry school. He was really proud. I told him it was really far away so we couldn't visit. He misses you. I do too. I picked up the shifts at a few of the jobs you left behind. It's enough to keep up on the rent, so don't worry. I'll take care of him for however long this one lasts. But it's only a matter of time before it gets bored and resets. I don't think it's going to be me next time around either._

 _Sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I? All I really wanted to say was, I'm still here. I'm still determined. And we will find our happy ending. Stay safe. Stay positive. And don't give up. I believe in you._

 _Frisk_

If he had not found that letter that day, he was sure he would not be here. He would have stopped trying by now. As it was, this empty Underground was not a nice place to live. No Papyrus or Undyne to liven things up with their well-meaning destruction. No other monsters to fill in empty spaces. It was just him. The Underground went silent.

He spent the majority of his time in Alphys' lab now. Though she had left with everyone else, the monitors had stayed active. So he sat and watched. The demon, it seemed, was making good on its promise to take its time. It had yet to venture passed the western part of Waterfall. It whistled as it frolicked around these areas, weeding out all the hidden monsters that had been left behind by the evacuation effort. Sans watched as it found those who had no choice but to stay. If they ran, it gave chase, cutting them down from behind. More often, the terrified monsters did the only thing they thought they could do; they triggered battles, the turn-based system giving them their best chance. Though some were lucky enough to land a few hits, all lost in the end. He watched, observed, but did nothing to help.

He was tired of doing nothing but watching.

* * *

Sans took a break. He went through the day doing no work, watching no monitors, and writing terrible morbid jokes that were appropriately inappropriate for the situation. He went to sleep with the usual nightmares but woke up more rested than he had been in a long time. He went over the videos with fresh eye-sockets. While the sinking, hopeless feeling was still there, he sat up straighter as he noticed something felt off in the battle scene recordings. It was just a feeling, he could not isolate what was causing it, but it was more than he had before. He needed a second opinion.

* * *

He had known, of course, where the monsters had moved in their retreat. Undyne made sure of that. But he had never actually been there. In previous iterations, he had stayed to try and put down the threat. This would be the first time he went to the new zone. The Outskirts, they called it. It was an area that the Royal Family had deemed unlivable long ago, when humans had first banished them to the Underground. It, too, was underground. But it was deeper and much more dangerous to live in. It was not really a city at all. It was more like a series of tunnels, like mines that were poorly structured. The air was thin and dusty, easily fatal to the monsters who needed to breathe. They were conspicuous by the masks that covered their faces. It was dark. There was no luminescent snow, or glowing rocks, or bright lava, or lightbulbs to illuminate the underground darkness like the established cities they had fled. Lights had surely been the last thing on everyone's minds. Little orbs of fire magic were everywhere like fireflies, but they flickered, weak and sickly like the monsters who had been down here much too long.

The new climate was also a terrible change. Cold and damp like Waterfall without the clear water, the monsters of Hotland were struggling to stay warm enough to survive. They clustered around the larger orbs of fire and warmer monsters. He was sure he had seen Grillby down one of the tunnels surrounded by Pyropes and Vulkins. An octopus-like monster was laying on its side. It was breathing heavily. Shyren sat leaning against one of his tentacles. He could hear her whisper, "It's alright, Onionsan. Aaron will be back soon with a shovel. He's going to make the tunnels big enough for you to sit in." Water was dripping on the aquatic monsters from pipes above them. Little droplets that he did not think would keep them alive for very long. His gaze followed the line of pipes.

"The pipes go through all of the tunnels. The water comes from Waterfall. We drilled upward until we were able to access enough for everyone." He turned to see Undyne standing behind him. She was looking at the dried up water monsters. "...maybe not enough for everyone."

"hey."

"Hey. Any luck?"

"not much," he admitted. She did not look surprised. "but i think i may have found something."

"Yeah?" The hope in her eyes was painful.

"nothing substantial." He ignored her face falling. "just a feeling i have."

"Just a gut feeling, huh? A fighter's got that. Usually, it saves our lives," she said, giving him an appraising look. "Though I never would have pegged you as a fighter before now."

He merely shrugged in response. He was not explaining anything to her. "i need to see alphys. she around?"

She held his gaze for a moment, pressuring him to say more. He returned the look coolly. She shuddered then sighed. "Yeah. Follow me."

He followed closely, critically memorizing the paths she took. After a few minutes of silent walking, he spoke. "How's pap?"

"He's... quiet. Well, as quiet as Papyrus can be, I mean. He asks about you all the time. You should go see him."

He shifted the bag on his back uncomfortably. "i don't think that's a good idea. i'll have to go back out there. it's kind of cruel to come back and then leave again, don't you think?"

She glanced back at him. "...your call, I guess."

Shortly after, they reached their destination. All it was, was a large white tent that hid little from outside eyes. There was a large bike-like contraption beside it. He could easily make out Alphys' silhouette skittering about. The flashing lights of electronics was also obvious. Undyne reached out to pull the fabric to the side, gesturing at him to go in first. He complied. Undyne slipped in after him. Aside from the electronic equipment that he was unfamiliar with, there was a long table, glass beakers and test tubes scattered along it. Some black sludge was bubbling on a burner.

"yo."

Alphys whirled around, glass beaker slipping from her hands. Undyne saved it with her quick reflexes. Alphys' eyes went wide as she saw him. "S-sans! You're alive!"

"yup. whatcha working on, doc?"

"O-oh. I'm t-trying to find a way to k-keep everyone warm. This black stuff radiates h-heat, but i-it also gives out a t-type of gas that makes it hard to b-breathe."

"sounds good. mind if i talk to you for a bit?" He meaningfully swung his gaze to Undyne before looking back at her.

Her eyes widened in understanding. "U-undyne, the power's getting kind of l-low. Would you mind...?"

Undyne's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she looked between them. She gestured to a meter on the wall. "The power storage is half full, Alphys."

"Oh. I just, uh, don't want it to go o-out during the night!"

She huffed. "Whatever. Talk about what ever you need to."

She stomped out. Sans watched as she walked around the tent to the bicycle contraption. She hopped on and started pedaling. The lights in the tent got brighter and the meter she had pointed out earlier started filling up slowly. Sans left eye went blue and soon the inside of the tent was coated in blue magic. No one would be able to hear them speak now. He pulled a tape out of his bag and handed it to her.

"i need you to watch this."

* * *

A/N: Still no Frisk, unless you count the letter. But she should be back in a chapter or two...sorta. As it is, we are moving slowly forward. Getting deeper into this thing and such on. Hope you liked it.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	16. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Reunion

* * *

Alphys turned away, covering her eyes. "W-why would you make m-me watch this?"

He put his hands on her shoulders, turning her back towards the screen. "buddy, i wouldn't make you watch this for no reason. something's off, but i can't tell what. you gotta help me."

She was trembling, but uncovered her eyes. "O-okay."

He rewound the video and replayed it. She whimpered as the three monster children triggered the battle. Three bunny-like creatures. A pair of twins that barely reached their pursuer's chest. One small enough to fit in the palm of a human's hand, just a baby. Their paws trembled as they attacked, the magic warranting the slightest of sidesteps from their attacker to miss completely. One twin fell and the other immediately chose to flee, picking up its infant sibling with him. He did not even make it more than a couple steps away. The demon did not spare the remaining one a single glance as it rose its foot above it and stomped down. Sans paused the video.

"T-they're... they were barely o-old enough to even be able to use m-magic," she wailed.

Sans groaned in frustration, pinching the bone between his eye-sockets. "you weren't watching the right thing. there's something here that we can use but i don't know what."

"Why c-couldn't you show me a d-different one? Th-those were babies! So small!"

"and more of them will die if we don't do anything!" he retorted. At her flinch, he softened his tone. "i said i couldn't find anything, right? but i can feel it. really. and this one... this one the feeling is the strongest. alphys, please help me."

She took a shuddering breath, looking upward and blinking rapidly to stem the flow of tears. Shakily, she nodded. He pushed the remote into her hand. "whenever you're ready."

It was not until she pressed play that he realized he had not rewound it yet. On the screen, the demon turned. It scooped a bit of dust into the palm of its hand. Then it skipped towards the camera, stopping right in front of it. Its face was flushed with happiness, wide grin on its face. It held its hand up in front of its face and blew the dust off of it in the parody of blowing a kiss.

"Hey, Sans! You still watching?" It cocked its head to the side cutely. It made him feel sick. "When are you coming to play with me?" It pouted, red eyes wide with feigned innocence. It twirled away from the camera, giggling. "I've been practicing lots just for you!"

The screen went black as the video ended. Silence stretched heavily between them. He should have edited that out.

"S-sans?"

He did not reply.

She turned to him. "Sans. Do you kn-know–"

"nope."

"But–"

He looked at her severely. " **i** **said no.** "

She cowered. Unlike Undyne, Alphys had seen his power before they had all been trapped in this reset loop. While she did not know the extent of his power, she had seen enough to make her wary.

He forced his voice to be normal with difficulty. "it doesn't help anything. really, alphys. so it doesn't matter. trust me."

She let her questions go. Despite everything, she did trust him. The rewound the video and watched it a third time. Though her vision was blurred with tears, she kept her eyes on the video, giving it her full attention. They needed to watch it several more times before she stiffened, finally getting the same sense of wrongness that he had been talking about. Sans tensed and paused the video where it was.

"did you find it?"

"Replay it again," was her only answer. He complied.

There was a confused furrowing between her brows. She absently scratched one of the spikes on her head. She took the remote and played it again. The furrow between her brows deepened. She slouched back in her chair, arms folding. Finally, she turned to him.

"Can I keep this? I think I might need more time to figure things out."

"knock yourself out." She knew more about the soul than anyone. If there was something off, she would find it.

The blue glow of his eye finally flickered out and the barrier fell. With it Undyne tumbled in, cursing up a storm. She had obviously been trying to get in for a while. She took one look at the tear tracks on Alphys' face and turned furious. She stepped in front of the scientist and a blue spear materialized in her hand.

She glared at Sans. "What the f–"

"U-undyne!" Alphys gripped the arm holding the spear. "He didn't hurt me! He just... gave me some bad news."

The spear faded into nothing and her shoulders slumped. She reached out and patted Alphys' head sympathetically. "Oh. Yeah, there isn't much good topside, is there?"

Alphys just shook her head. The pair turned towards Sans. He merely raised his arm in a lazy wave and turned to leave.

"Sans!"

He stopped but did not turn around.

"Stay close, all right? I-I might need to reach you."

The slightest of nods and then he was gone.

* * *

Sans walked restlessly through the tunnels of the Outskirts. Aside from just being a terrible place, it made him uneasy. He did not know the area well enough to make effective use of the shortcuts. It also seemed like a bad idea to let the demon walked around without some sort of surveillance. But it was more important that he stayed close enough to get any sort of information that Alphys could provide. Being in the overcrowded tunnels with the rest of the surviving monsters also made him nervous about running into his–

"BROTHER!" And there he was, struggling to get through the throng of monsters. Sans briefly contemplated taking a shortcut to get away, but he figured now that he had seen him, it would be cruel to disappear so immediately. He stood still and watched his brother come to him. Finally, he was in front of him, scooping him up into his arms so that Sans was dangling in the air.

"sup, bro?"

Papyrus held him out in front of him, not wanting to let go but needing to keep in physical contact. "YOU ARE OKAY! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! WHY DID YOU NOT EVACUATE WHEN EVERYONE ELSE DID?"

"had some stuff to do."

Papyrus let out a sigh. "ONLY YOU WOULD FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO WHEN THERE ARE IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPENING! YOU MUST WORRY ABOUT SAFETY AS WELL! THERE IS A REASON UNDYNE GAVE THE ORDER TO RETREAT!"

"my bad. won't happen again," he assured him comfortingly.

Papyrus threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He vaulted over a crowd that was passing by. "I SHALL TAKE YOU TO OUR CURRENT HOME!"

It turned out that their new home was a fort made of cardboard and gratuitous amounts of duct tape. He grinned at his brother fondly. He knew his craftsmanship when he saw it. Still, he planned on improving the home while he was down here. The cardboard was soggy and flimsy from the pipes dripping above. He considered bringing wood down from above, or at least wrapping the structure in plastic wrap.

"looks great, pap." The praise came naturally.

Papyrus preened. "OF COURSE IT DOES! IT WAS MADE BY MASTER CARPENTER PAPYRUS!"

The next few minutes went by with Papyrus giving him a tour of the small cardboard shack. Afterward, they sat on the floor, side by side, as the excited skeleton told his brother stories of life in the Outskirts. The stories were exaggerated, unnecessarily long, and full of optimism. They left Sans feeling more positive than he been in a while. It was not until his brother yawned that he realized how late it had gotten. He tucked Papyrus into the little nest of fabric he had made as his bed. He laid next to him. Levitating a book over, grinning as his brother murmured sleepily about his laziness, he read him his favorite story.

He had thought his brother was already asleep when his voice filled the room once more. It was whisper-yelled in a completely Papyrus-like way. "SANS?"

"yeah?"

"LOVE YOU."

Sans swallowed hard. "love you too, bro."

"...YOU'RE GOING TO STAY DOWN HERE WITH ME NOW RIGHT?"

He made a noncommittal sound that he hoped his brother would accept.

"IT'S SAFE HERE."

"yeah." But not really. Not for long.

"THIS IS OUR HOME NOW. SO WE'VE GOT TO STAY TOGETHER, OKAY?"

"...okay."

Papyrus did not say anything else. As his breathing evened out in sleep, Sans finally allowed himself to cry.

* * *

A/N: And a reunion. One of the two I'm sure you've been wanting. I made myself sad this chapter. Papyrus is just too much of a sweetheart.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	17. Disobedient

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Disobedient

* * *

Sans stayed. For the next few days, he expended more magic that he used in most of the longer runs. He would blink through shortcuts up to Alphys' lab and check the monitors just enough to know where the demon was located. Then he would flit around, gathering supplies. He became a one man scavenger crew. Sometimes, he would stumble upon a monster that had been left behind and he would transport them to the Outskirts. While it helped, a single monster could only do so much. Conditions were improved slightly and unequally. Their plastic-wrapped cardboard home was the most luxurious thing there, with the exception of the Royal Scientist's tent with all of Alphys' equipment. Others scrambled to follow their example with varying degrees of success.

* * *

Papyrus had been clingy since he had returned. Each time he left his sight or took a trip topside, he would return to his brother's embrace. He knew Papyrus did not like that he was going up alone. Though his brother was proud he was doing so much for the community, the worry in his eye-sockets made him feel guilty. He tried to make all of his trips quick, for his sake. He was about to take another trip for water. Even with the pipes providing water, the aquatic monsters were drying up. Though last time he checked, Woshua was breathing, the poor thing had not woken in days. His bird friend had not made a peep since he had fallen asleep. His magic flared and he prepared to jump.

"SANS!"

He had not realized he was nearby. His magic died down. "yeah, pap?"

His brother looked concerned. "ARE YOU TAKING ANOTHER TRIP?"

"yup. don't worry. i'll be back soon."

"MAYBE... I SHOULD GO WITH YOU! AS BACK-UP!"

Sans immediately tensed. "nah, i'm cool. undyne ordered you to stay down here, didn't she?"

"YEAH, SHE DID," Papyrus responded, twiddling his thumbs. "AND SHE WOULD PROBABLY BE MAD AT ME IF I WENT..."

"see? so just do what you gotta do, bro. i'm just gonna go up, grab a quick drink for the wet folks, and be right back. nice and easy."

Papyrus continued his thought. "BUT AS I HAVE NOT YET BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, SHE HAS NO REAL AUTHORITY TO ORDER ME AROUND. IT WOULD BE BETTER IF I WENT UP TO PROTECT YOU!"

Sans forced a light-hearted chuckle. "thanks, bro. but i'm sure you're needed to protect everyone down here."

Papyrus opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by a knock on the side of their home (the structure was not advanced enough to have a door). Undyne slipped in.

"Hey guys. Sans, Alphys said she needed to see you right now."

Sans nodded. He glanced at his brother who was looking at him in confusion. He did not know he had been working with Alphys. Instead of teleporting immediately, he stepped passed Undyne so he could whisper to her. "induct pap into the royal guard and order him to stay."

She nodded, big enough for him to see it but slight enough that Papyrus did not catch it. Sans teleported right into Alphys' tent. The dinosaur-like creature jumped at his sudden appearance.

"you got something for me?"

"Y-yeah. C'mon." She led him to a monitor. Displayed on it was the video he had given her, paused during the battle. She sat down at a computer set near it. He watched he mouse pop up on the monitor.

"I converted it to a digital file so I could mess with it." She rewound the scene just a few frames before the battle began and played it. As the soul was pulled from its body and the battle scene began to fall into place around them, she paused it again. "I've been watching the human's soul, trying to figure out what was so off about it."

"and?"

"It's different from the other humans souls that we have."

"how so?"

She reshaped the window so it only took half of the monitor. Another video popped up beside it. "This video I took down with me when we evacuated. It's of one of the previous humans. I used it for comparison."

She muted both and played them side by side. She showed the sequence of their souls being pulled from their body and entering battle and then froze them. "I compared it with the tapes of the other previous humans too but the results are the same."

He watched critically as she opened the files in a video editor, zoomed in on the souls themselves, and increased the contrast. She began running through the sequence, frame by frame. Then, she paused it.

"Right there! There's an echo!" She went on to compare it with the yellow soul in the other video but he was not listening anymore.

Sans felt a weight form in his chest. Sure enough, there was the tiniest sliver of red that was not keeping up with the dodging soul. It was a slightly darker shade of red. Frisk. This was good and bad. She was still there, which was a relief. But this went against what she had told him before. She had said that when the demon took control, everything was its own. The stats, the soul pulled into the battles, every single motion of the body. If Frisk's soul was showing up, if it was moving along with the demon's, it meant she had even less control than usual. The kid he knew would have forced it into the attacks to force another reset. This was not just the demon scrambling her memories during the run or blocking useful information, this was it having control of her soul. He shuddered at the implications. The kid definitely needed his help.

"thanks. i've got all the information i need for now." He turned to leave.

"W-wait! Do you know s-something I don't? I've still got q-questions!"

"don't worry about it. i got it from here."

"But–"

Undyne burst into the tent. "Sans! Papyrus is gone!"

Sans stopped cold. "what do you mean he's gone?"

"I ordered him to stay but he just insisted he needed to do something. He said he wanted to prove to you that he could help."

His voice deepened in anger. " **why didn't you keep him there?** "

Undyne glared. "He teleported. I thought only you could do that!"

Sans anger shifted into worry. He cursed. "He's never done that before."

He remembered moving through time and space his first time. It was extremely disorienting. He had passed out after his first successful attempt and felt woozy for hours after. His sweet, oblivious brother alone and weakened topside was a sobering thought.

"i gotta go."

"I'll come with you."

"no, stay here. if it finds this place the others will need someone who can really fight. take care of everyone else. i'll take care of my brother." He blinked into the original Underground. Then, he focused. That innate radar that he had for Frisk? He had one for his brother too. He stepped into another shortcut...

and found Papyrus laying on the ground. And just his luck, the demon was a few scant feet away, knife in hand. He triggered a battle. Participants in battles were decided by proximity. The battle was two on one, his brother in his party.

It aimed right at his unconscious brother. "Looks like free EXP!" it singsonged.

 **Chara → [Fight]** _ **Miss**_

It looked annoyed as he yanked him out of the path of its knife.

 **Sans → [Fight] _Miss_**

A wall of bone emerged from the ground. It barely sidestepped it. It laughed. "I told you, didn't I? I've been practicing!"

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

He could hear it huff in annoyance as it hacked at his wall. He hoped it would buy him at least a couple turns.

 **Sans → [Act] → [Papyrus] → [Give] → [Cinnamon Bunny]**

His brother groaned. He hoped that it would wake him enough to be able to flee. He did not have any other food with him.

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

It had almost gotten through his defensive wall. He could see its triumphant grin.

 **Sans → [Act] → [Papyrus] → [Shake]**

He shook his brother. He shifted slightly.

 **Chara → [Fight] _Miss_**

It switched to its toy knife and threw it towards him. A single miss-shapen bone materialized in front of him, blocking it. It was not his own. Papyrus had woken up.

 **Sans → [Fight]**

Bone ripped through the flesh of its right arm. It screamed. Papyrus was still too disoriented to use magic effectively so soon after waking up.

 **Chara → [Mercy] → [Flee]**

It had not seemed to have noticed that Papyrus was worse for the wear. It chose not to go against two of the stronger fighters at once.

Sans took the opportunity to lunge forward at it, the battle scene still fading. Its soul had not yet completely returned to its body. He grabbed it and, finding what felt like a seam, tore it. The two pieces grew hot, burning his hands, and he let go. One piece returned to the body. The other fell to the ground below.

 **Chara _escaped._**

Sans glanced behind him to see that Papyrus was, though confused, fine. He reached down to pick up the heart-shaped soul on the ground. Warmth flooded through him and he sighed in relief.

"geez kid. you worried me."

The red heart pulsated slightly and he felt the sensation of waking up.

"morning."

A feeling of confusion, then alarm. Sans frowned. "looks like you won't be able to talk as effectively either."

The alarm ebbed a bit but the confusion grew.

"boy, do i have a lot to catch you up on."

"SANS?"

He turned to his brother. Papyrus had made it onto his feet. "yo. feeling better?"

"I SUPPOSE SO. I DO NOT THINK I LIKE BLINKING FROM PLACE TO PLACE." he replied, swaying on his feet.

"yeah, takes some getting used to."

Papyrus gaze went down to the soul in his hands. "SANS, WHAT'S THAT?"

"it's frisk." he answered.

"WHAT IS A 'FRISK'?"

"not a frisk, pap. just frisk. that's her name."

He sidled up closer and squinted down at her. "Her?"

He nodded. "she's a human soul."

"HUMAN?" His gaze understandably turned wary.

"don't worry. she's a good one. she's actually a friend of mine."

Papyrus goggled. "A FRIEND?"

The red soul pulsated once, sending him a wave of fondness, and he chuckled. "she said she wants to be your friend too."

Papyrus flushed, immediately all smiles again. "WOWIE! HELLO THERE NEW FRIEND GOOD HUMAN SOUL FRISK!"

She glowed before returning to her neutral color. Papyrus rightly took it as a greeting.

"welp, now that the introductions are over, we've got work to do. since you're out already, you might as well help me haul water."

"OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE THE GREATEST SCAVENGER ON THIS SCAVENGER UNIT! ARE YOU ASSISTING TOO, FRIENDLY HUMAN SOUL FRISK?"

Sans felt her warm up with determination and grinned. "you don't got a body right now, kid. leave it to us corporeal creatures."

A feeling that vaguely reminded him of a pout.

"DO NOT DISTRESS FRIENDLY HUMAN SOUL FRISK! I AM SURE WE WILL FIND SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP!"

She floated up to the taller skeleton and nudged her soul against him sweetly. He blushed.

Sans snatched her out of the air and tucked her into the pocket of his hoodie. "behave." Then he look up at his brother and said, "let's go."

He would explain to his brother why Frisk needed to be kept a secret from the others while they retrieved supplies.

* * *

A/N: What's this? Another chapter so soon after the last? Indeed, it is! And look! Frisk is (kinda) back! Like I promised. Hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	18. Together

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Together

* * *

Sans was sure she was peeking out of his pockets as they walked through the tunnels of the Outskirts. Waves of distress not his own poured through him and she was practically vibrating. He could feel sweat bead on the top of his skull as he lifted the barrel of water under his left arm into the air with his magic. Between the fight earlier and transporting all three of them and the supplies simultaneously he had very little magic to draw upon. Left hand now free, he reached into his pocket and stoked the trembling soul with a thumb. She pressed herself firmly against his palm. Beside him, Papyrus looked down at him in concern. Unlike humans, monsters could feel the each other's magic while in close proximity. He had obviously felt his magic waver. He grinned up at his brother gratefully as he felt familiar magic wrap around the barrel. He loosened his grip and let his brother carry it for him. Papyrus smiled back proudly. He kept his hand wrapped around Frisk. After a quick stop at the tunnels where Waterfall's former residents clustered to drop off the water, they went directly home. Sans slipped in first, Papyrus directly behind.

"WELCOME HOME FRISK!" Sans immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, glancing at curtain that served as their door worriedly.

Papyrus was contrite. His whisper-yell was muffled beneath Sans' hand. "SORRY."

When nobody came to knock questioningly on their wall, he relaxed, uncovering his brother's mouth. "'s alright. just be careful, okay?"

"OKAY."

Careful extracting Frisk from his pocket, he pushed her into Papyrus' hands. "i need you to watch after the kid for a bit. i gotta go update undyne." While he trusted his brother, he hoped to limit Papyrus' interaction with Undyne, not wanting to risk him letting anything slip.

His brother eagerly agreed, happy to spend quality time with his new friend.

San experimentally reached out for his magic, wincing as it tugged painfully on his soul. It looked like he would have to walk there. He walked through the tunnels, head angled carefully down to avoid conversation. Since they had all learned he was the only one who could get supplies, he had been inundated with pleas for help. He ignored the guilt that rose as he tugged his arm out of the grasp of a monster who undoubtedly needed assistance. It was important that he got to Undyne soon. Before he reached Alphys' tent, the only place he knew Undyne frequented, he had actually been forced to run from a crowd of begging monsters. It was a cold reminder of why he preferred his shortcuts, especially nowadays. He called out the scientist's name, a verbal knock since, like almost all other homes now, she had no door, before ducking in.

Both Alphys and Undyne were there. "Sans!" They exclaimed in unison.

Undyne continued. "Where's Papyrus?"

"he's fine. a little wobbly since it was his first time teleporting. i thought it best to let him rest at home."

He appreciated the relief that flooded both girls' eyes. "either way, i was able to bring twice as much water as usual with his help. we already delivered it to the water monsters."

"Great work! You can tell Papyrus that too," She said with a wide smile. Then her grin turned slightly malicious. "I'll let him off for a bit since he's not at his best but let him know that once he's feeling better I'm going to noogie him for disobeying me!"

He chuckled. "will do. i'm gonna hit the hay now."

She straightened and nodded. "You deserve it."

He wondered when she had started speaking to him like one of her soldiers. Waving lazily towards Alphys he stepped out. He booked it home. He took a moment to catch his breath before he stepped in.

Papyrus was fast asleep. Frisk, on the other hand, could not be seen as she hovered over him with a blanket covering her. She shot upward, the blanket following her movement, before dodging out from underneath it. It landed directly on top of the slumbering skeleton. He watched as her soul landed, tucking him in carefully. As a tiny floating heart the action took a long time, but in the end she had him wrapped up in her signature burrito style. She had not noticed him yet. She went on to tidy up the rest of their small home. She nudged condiments into order by color in that overly-organized way she had. She wiggled beneath action figures to push them up straight before aligning them neatly. Sans decided to interfere as she attempted to fold the clean pile of clothes in the corner. He honestly could not see how she could do it without magic or limbs of any sort.

He reached into the sweatpants she had been swallowed by and pulled her out, feeling her surprise. He winked and smiled cheekily. "hey kid. trying to get into my pants?"

Her soul grew warm and he could imagine the blush she would have on her face. A wave of embarrassed chastisement hit him as she struggled out of his hand. He tucked his hand back into his pocket, grin widening. It was just as satisfying embarrassing disembodied soul Frisk as right proper human Frisk. Her soul twirled around, the equivalent of shaking her head to dispel humiliation. A single pulse of tentative questioning was enough to shift the subject to more serious topics. He sat heavily on the floor and held out his palm. She settled down onto it. He brought her close to his face. Even as a soul she radiated warmth.

Eye-socket to floating red heart, he asked softly. "how you holding up, kid?"

A strong throb went through him, determination in its purest form.

"glad to hear it."

Her soul nodded towards the curtain out of their home. A wave of worry.

"heh, yeah. the outskirts aren't too pretty. but we're all holding up okay."

Her glow seemed to dim and she grew heavier in his hand.

He tapped her with a finger. "what's wrong?"

A thickness in the air around him. An apology.

"what do you got to be sorry about? i felt you wake up remember? you can't help if you aren't around."

She grew heavier in his hand. A stinging in his eye-sockets that felt like tears.

"what? the resets? we both know you can't just force them like that thing out there does. we'll be able to eventually."

The weight on his palm lessened.

"besides, with my memories being incomplete each time around, we gotta take each iteration as far as we can."

She seemed to be feeling better.

He patted her affectionately.

She used her whole soul to nod. A second later the heart swelled slightly in his hand before returning back to normal.

He blinked in surprise. "did you just... yawn?"

She settled even deeper into his hand in response.

"yeah, i'm tuckered out too. bed?"

The soul began glowing and fading alternately. She was already asleep. He shuffled over to the nest of blankets, settling in next to his brother. He pulled off his hoodie, folding it into a second, smaller blanket nest. He fit Frisk into it carefully. Then, he snuggled into the blankets himself and went to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Aww. They're a family again. It feels oh so good having them all settled in together again, even if Frisk can't talk normally right now. I like to think that Frisk would be just as determined to help as a soul than as a human being. Soul Frisk is so cute to me.

Thanks for reading.

KEAlvarez and anyone else interested in the fanart I've gotten. I've recently made a tumblr under the same name as here. I also got some in the comments of ao3 (archiveofourown) which I also post this story on. It also uses the same pen name as here. If you have trouble finding them, please pm me.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	19. Breather

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Breather

* * *

 _Shooka-shooka._

Sans groaned and turned over in his sleep.

 _Shooka-shooka._

He huffed and turned onto his other side.

 _Shooka-shooka._

He jolted up as something hard and tiny fell into his eye-socket. Fishing it out with a finger, he found it was a bright pink sprinkle. Looking up, he saw his brother standing over him with a canister of the little candy pellets. He rolled his neck, feeling it pop.

"whatcha doing, pap?"

"GOOD MORNING BROTHER! I AM FEEDING OUR DEAR FRIEND FRISK. BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY AFTER ALL!"

He glanced down at the hoodie nest he had made the night before. From the steady glowing and fading he could tell that she was still sleeping. Sure enough, her form was covered in sprinkles. In the next moment, Papyrus shook the canister so vigorously that the top popped off, landing on the slumbering soul and quickly followed by the remaining sugar crystals it had held. She immediately was aglow and Sans could feel her confusion roll over him in waves.

"NYEH HEH HEH! SUCH A GENEROUS HELPING OF FOOD FROM THE GRACIOUS PAPYRUS!" He tossed the empty container into their trash bin in the corner. "I AM OFF TO AID OTHERS IN BUILDING HOMES! GOODBYE BROTHER AND SMALL FRIEND!"

He rolled out of their home, laughter fading.

Frisk floated up slowly and yawned. There were still sprinkles all over the top of her. Sans picked a blue one off and stuck it into his mouth.

"well, aren't you _sweet_ this morning."

She shivered and a feeling that vaguely felt like a giggle flew through him.

He grinned. "can you even eat like that, kid?"

Curiosity. Then a soft pulse of determination and concentration. A small amount of sprinkles were absorbed into her soul. She felt about as surprised as he was.

"guess that answers that." He paused, considering. "can you regain hp with that? that would be useful to know if, well, we run into any problems."

She did not move, seeming to think. Then she floated over to the box full of Papyrus' bone attacks. Hesitating for just a moment, she allowed herself to drop onto the tip of one of the sharper ones. She immediately recoiled and a window popped up.

 **Frisk**

 **LV 1**

 **HP 17/20**

Sans hopped up from the blankets, moving towards her in concern. He held out a palm which she settled down on gratefully. Warmth spread through his hand as she focused on absorbing another sprinkle that was still stuck to her. The window updated.

 **Frisk**

 **LV 1**

 **HP 20/20**

"give a skeleton a bit of warning next time," he scolded her exasperatedly. He continued. "that's a lot of hp recovered from a single sprinkle. i wonder if it's because you absorbed it straight into your soul."

She shrugged, an extremely subtle movement to see on such a small soul.

"eh, it's not the big issue here anyway. we'll worry about it later."

* * *

By mid-afternoon, it was shaping up to be a relaxing day. Sans spent it alternately napping and watching Frisk occupy herself in their tiny home. She cleaned (again), reorganized everything (again), and, to his amusement, seemed to deliberately ignore the clothes pile in the corner. At the moment, she was attempting to solve a jigsaw puzzle Papyrus had made for her before he left. It was a badly-drawn picture of the three of them that had been cut up into a few dozen pieces. With the puzzles pieces positions altered only by her dragging or pushing them with her entire soul, it was incredibly slow progress. Still, the girl was determined.

* * *

Sans was woken up again by a light weight moving across his chest. Shifting an arm behind his head to allow him to look down, he grinned. Frisk seemed to be having a blast rolling back and forth across his chest. The uneven surface of her heart-shaped soul made for an interesting sight. She would roll onto her side, teeter a bit before doing the soul equivalent of face-planting. She would keep rolling, do the teeter-like thing upon her other side, before falling flat onto the back of her soul. He watched as she rolled from one side of his chest to the other and back, letting her have her fun. Then, she slipped just slightly, landing in the dip between two of his ribs. He could not help the laughter that bubbled out of him as she fell onto the ticklish spot. She immediately flew off of him, floating lowly in a way that broadcast her embarrassment. She was obviously waiting to be scolded.

"been at that for a while, kid?"

A flail (a flustered 'no') before she drooped (a hesitant confession of 'yes').

He laughed before pushing himself upright with one hand, plucking Frisk out of the air with the other.

"guess i better get my lazybones up then? you seem bored."

He stood and promptly shoved her into his pocket. Immediately, he found himself buffeted with annoyance and disgust as she practically tore through his pocket on her way out. She flailed right in front of his face angrily. It was easy to see why. The poor soul was covered in ketchup, a packet plastered to her side with the red condiment.

He met her furious pulsating soul with an easy grin. "whoops."

His only warning was a brief flicker of what felt like a devious grin before she was nuzzling his whole skull with her soul. He teleported to the other side of the room, snatching up a mustard bottle. He aimed it at her menacingly. The room throbbed with determination.

* * *

"WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?" Papyrus exclaimed as he looked at the wreckage that was the inside of their home.

Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and relish was streaked and dotted across the plastic-cardboard walls like paint. Sans' clothes were also seen to be splattered with edible goop, as he stood armed with a jar of pickles. Frisk was taking cover from the shorter skeleton behind a mug that had "#1 Brother" written on it.

Sans looked towards him, arm with the pickle jar falling slightly from its upraised position. "oh, sup br–"

He was cut off mid-greeting as Frisk darted out from her hiding place, a jar of sequins and googly eyes balanced on top of her head. She flew just above him, loop-de-looping to drop the craft embellishments upon him in a shower of glitter. Sans dropped the jar of pickles in surprise. The glass shattered, pickles flying every which way. Somehow, a pickle lodged itself between the bones of Papyrus' left leg.

Papyrus decided to intervene.

* * *

Half an hour later, the walls were spotless and the clothes were soaking in a basin of water in the corner of the room. Sans had changed into his less used grey hoodie and a pair of black sweatpants. Frisk's little red soul was cupped in Papyrus' large gloved hand as he wiped the grime from her with a damp handkerchief. Sans eyes were on Frisk as he nodded absently in response to his brother's scolding. He raised the ridge on his skull that acted as an eyebrow, silently asking "same time tomorrow?" The little red soul glowed affirmatively in response.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, it's been a while. I'm well aware that this was almost completely fluffy, hence the title of this chapter. We could all use a breather, right? I really needed it. It's actually finals week right now for me. Hope it was worth the wait even if not much happened.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	20. Bad Run: 97

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

A/N: This takes place in the ninety-seventh bad run. That was the one where Sans died and Frisk had written him the letter that he would find later. No one specifically asked for it, but I thought you'd all like to see it anyway.

* * *

Iterations

Bad Run: 97

* * *

Ninety-Seven.

Frisk had never stopped fighting. Not for a single iteration. But no matter how hard she fought, she never seemed able to regain control. It was just so much stronger than her. And it wasted no time. Flowey was a smear against the floor before he had even fully emerged from the ground. A quick step into the shadows and Toriel was dust, stabbed from the back. Not a word was said as it massacred the Ruins, from either the being within her body or the monsters it hunted. Only dark laughter and screaming.

And then they got to the door. She felt a vindictive sort of satisfaction when it hesitated with its palms against the door.

"Shut up," it snapped at her under its breath before shoving the door open.

And there he was. Fast asleep.

Disbelief in stereo, the closest to in sync they had ever been.

It smiled. Frisk trembled. It hummed softly as it skipped up to the slumbering skeleton. The lips on her body spread wider than they ever had as it looked down at him in glee. Neither of them had gotten a good look at him since the bad runs began, having been put down immediately each time. Sweat dotted his skull. Even as he slept, his breathing was uneven. He was quivering as blue magic crackled along his body. His right eye-socket was lower on his skull, his right shoulder held a dip that it never had before. His right hand, usually hidden in his pocket as he fought, had slipped out. It was nothing but an indistinct blob. Sans was melting.

"Poor thing," it cooed mockingly. "Didn't anyone tell him too much determination was dangerous for monsters?"

It knelt in front of him and leaned towards him, knife in hand. "Don't worry, friend. I'll put you out of your misery."

It ran the side of its knife over his neck, then along the portion of his collarbone that was exposed by the wide collar of his shirt. Then, it slashed diagonally, cutting him from left shoulder to right side of his pelvis. The knife was twirled in its hand as it watched him slowly turn to dust. Its grin wavered then fell. Dissatisfaction flooded its body. It stood, huffing in frustration as it dusted snow off its pants.

"So boring," it murmured. "Frisk, quit blubbering for a second. It's annoying."

She snarked back. She thought it loved causing pain.

It rolled its eyes heavenward and let out a loud groan. "Jeez. I do. Screaming, angst, anger. That stuff is hilarious. Crying, on the other hand, grates on my nerves."

It paused, considering. Then its grin returned. "Actually, this run's gone stale. Why don't you play the rest of it?"

The return of her body was jarring and she fell to her knees. Her body felt almost foreign. She stayed there, on the snow-covered snow and buried her head in her hands, willing the disorientation to subside. Absently, she noted as the presence in her mind receded, going back to sleep. Frisk opened her eyes. They immediately flooded with tears. Clothes and snow and dust.

She bit her lip, trapping the sobs within herself. Sans had kept his promise as long as he could. It was time to keep hers.

* * *

His dust, still warm with his magic, had melted the snow he had sat upon. The two had mixed, making a sickly grey sludge. Very little actual dust was salvageable, but she took what she could. Keeping them safe within her pocket.

* * *

Papyrus jumped, laughing with delight as Fluffy Bunny took him off guard as always. Frisk smiled at him, reaching out to tuck him in again. He had jumped straight out of his blankets. She chuckled as he burrowed deeper into the blanket burrito she had him in. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his skull. The skeleton blushed and beamed up at her. Giving him one last pat, strolled over to his bookshelf, sliding _Peek-a-Boo With Fluffy Bunny_ back into place. She murmured a soft goodnight and turned to leave. She had just barely stepped into the doorway when he called to her.

"FRISK?"

"Yeah, Papyrus?"

"CAN WE VISIT SANS TOMORROW?"

She spoke around the lump in her throat. Her voice was weak as she denied him. "Sorry, Pap. No can do."

"I MISS HIM."

"Me too." She really did.

"...HE'S NEVER LEFT ME ALONE BEFORE."

She whirled around, taking in his forlorn figure. He was sitting up now, staring down as he wrung his hands. Determination surged. She marched back over to his bedside. She cupped his skull in her hands, tilting it so he met her eyes. She placed a hand on his chest, right over where the small vial of dust dangled, and pressed her forehead to his.

She spoke firmly. "He didn't leave you."

"BUT–"

She shook her head. "No. He didn't go anywhere and he definitely didn't leave you alone."

He tried to look away and she gently forced him to meet her eyes again. "Look around, Papyrus. The action figures on the desk, the books on the shelf, this racecar bed that you're laying in right now. Who gave you those?"

"SANS."

"And what about your 'battle body'? The one that you're wearing. The one you never take off. Where did you get it?"

"I MADE IT WITH SANS."

"Why am I here, Papyrus? How did I ever get to you?"

"YOU MET SANS. YOU'RE SANS' FRIEND."

"That's right. And I'm _your_ friend too. Maybe he isn't here to crack jokes or lend a hand, but looking around he's so part of all of this – so part of _us –_ that he can't ever be gone. Do you understand?"

He seemed to relax slightly. "OKAY."

"I mean it. He wouldn't have left if he thought he would be leaving you alone." Sitting on the bed, she reached for him and pulled him into her arms. "You have me, okay?"

Long arms wrapped around her tightly. "YEAH. I'VE GOT YOU."

She pulled away just slightly. "That's right... Do you want me to stay here with you tonight?"

His expression said 'yes' but he shook his head. "I'M A STRONG SKELETON. I DO NOT NEED YOU TO BABY ME."

She forced a smile. "Yes, of course. I'm just being silly."

His whole body seemed to curl into itself as he braced himself for her to leave. She really could not leave him like this.

"Why don't..." she paused, thinking of an idea he would accept. "Why don't we have a sleepover?"

He seemed to light up with relief and excitement. "A SLEEPOVER? WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!"

He yanked her underneath the blankets with him and curled up around her.

They were both asleep in seconds.

* * *

She sat in the hallway, leaning against Sans' bedroom door. She had woken up alone. Papyrus had, no doubt, already left to go about his day. She had no work today. She turned her letter over in her hands. She would slip it under the door to his lab later. But she felt like she needed to actually talk to him now. Knuckles softly hit the door behind her twice.

There was no response.

"I know I should probably tell a joke or something, but I don't have any. That was more your kind of thing anyway. I wrote you a letter. I hope you get it next time around and it makes you feel a bit better. I want to tell you something, but I'm not sure if you'd be upset. So I'm just going to tell your bedroom door. Monsters have their dust spread on the things they like, right? I couldn't tell Pap you were really gone so I just made my best guess. You... really don't seem to like a whole lot. I sprinkled some on the condiment bottles in your Snowdin sentry station and on the quantum physics joke book. I put some in a vial and put in on a string. I told Papyrus it was a friendship necklace. I thought that you two should stay together. He never takes it off... and... I hope this isn't to presumptuous of me but... I keep another vial necklace of my own. I feel kind of guilty, keeping it without your permission, I mean. But I just... really needed you here with me."

She buried her head in her arms.

"I really hope it resets soon."

* * *

A/N: Just a little tidbit. Will be back to the regular action next chapter. Hope you don't mind.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	21. Cave-in Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Cave-in

* * *

He was scavenging alone today. Undyne had barreled into their home early this morning. Apparently, a tunnel on the east end had collapsed. Papyrus had run off to help, stuffing Frisk into his ribcage as he ran out with uncharacteristic subtlety. He trusted him to keep her hidden. Undyne had held him back, encouraging him take a supply run. The monsters that they were able save would need more materials to rebuild.

He had made twelve trips already and his bones were trembling with the effort it was taking just to remain standing. He stumbled, his magic flaring almost as if it had its own will. Instead of hitting the rough gravel of Hotland, he thudded softly down onto familiar itchy carpet. He felt the pinpricks of light in his eyes dim and watched as his eye-sockets shut.

* * *

Barely over an hour later, he woke. He rolled onto his back with a groan. Everything ached. He pushed off the ground with cautious hands, testing if he was strong enough to hold himself up again. Shaking off the weariness, he gazed around. A ball of blankets. A treadmill running at walking speed. A self-sustaining tornado of trash. He was home.

The lump in his throat and stinging in his eye-sockets took him by surprise.

He would like to say that before all the resets and craziness, he had just been another monster. He would like to b able to say that he worked hard to pay for necessities, had an honest relationship with his brother, and had great friends that he could confide in. That before all this, he had made connections. Had meaningful relationships with those around him.

But that would make him a liar.

He had withdrawn from the world around him long before Frisk ever fell into that patch of golden flowers.

He had not set foot in this house months. With everything that had been going on, he barely had a moment to think of things left behind. Even then, he had narrowed his focus down to things Papyrus would have missed. He had always been good at distracting himself from his own issues. In the few moments he had to consider his own treasures collecting dust in their abandoned former home, he never could rationalize risking the trip.

But he was here now and he would not waste the opportunity.

Notes were vital from one loop to another, but to Sans, only two objects held any sort of personal importance. He made sure to take them with him.

* * *

Teleportation came easily to Sans. He had been doing it for so long. The magical cost, however, was high. A manipulation of time and space to open other dimensions to create his shortcuts, the cost grew exponentially as the mass he transported grew. He had managed only a few more trips before the materials he had amassed would have to be enough. Any more and he would run the risk of becoming stranded without an untraceable way back or magic to defend himself. His return to the Outskirts was jarring, sending him tumbling and the supplies clattering to the floor around him. He was glad he had not been transporting anything delicate.

"yup," he muttered to himself, face-planted on the ground. "definitely not doing that anymore for a while."

He walked down to the Stockpile, the tunnel they had chosen to act as the storage for their supplies. The tunnel branched off from the larger one that housed Alphys' (and, unofficially, Undyne's) tent. He was not sure if Undyne stayed over most nights because of the scientist or duty. He knew that in other iterations they had been a couple, but they were just as likely not to be. It was not a secret that Undyne had to stop monsters from sneaking supplies out of the Stockpile. She hated doing it, knowing that they were all desperate, but rationing was strict these days. Everyone needed something. He shook away the thought. He still had work to do. While he did not have the magic to teleport at the moment, he had plenty to perform menial tasks. The supplies floated blue in the air around him. He sorted the materials into the proper categories. Food with food. Wood with wood. Clothing and blankets and heavy curtains that could be used as blankets all together. Very few oxygen tanks. There were not many of them left to scavenge. He would need to ask Alphys to get started on manufacturing them soon. Taking the clipboard hanging from a nail on the wall, he updated the new inventory quantities.

Hanging it back on the wall, he cracked his knuckles. He may be low on magic but he was stronger than he looked. He could still help.

* * *

They were making slow progress. Each boulder was carefully extracted. The walls around were reinforced as they went along. Loose dirt was just as dangerous as as falling stone. They had saved a few, immediately passing through to volunteers who had some sort of medical experience. They had been lucky. Most doctors lived in the Capitol. But they had found dust in empty clothing more often than they found survivors. Frisk was being violently tossed into the bones of Papyrus' ribcage as he trembled. He had never felt so acquainted with death. She had been consistently pulsating determination. Soft, gentle pulses to calm him and give encouragement though she could not see from inside his shirt. Suddenly, his quaking lessened.

She brushed herself gently against one of his ribs. A question.

Papyrus looked around cautiously before answering. He had put himself to work close enough to hear any yells for aid from the other volunteers, but far enough that they would not be able to hear him should he need to speak to Frisk. "SANS IS HERE. HE'S TALKING TO UNDYNE."

He seemed to slump slightly. He could feel her soul brush up against him again.

"OH... IT SEEMS SHE HAS SET HIM TO WORK AT THE OTHER SIDE."

A comforting wave rippled through him.

"I'M A TERRIBLE BROTHER."

Denial. Steadfast and firm.

"I AM," he insisted. "I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT HE WAS WEAK. HIS STATS... THEY'RE ONES ACROSS THE BOARD. ATK. DEF. HP."

Frisk did not respond.

"WHEN HE WENT UP AGAINST THE HUMAN... HE DODGED EASILY. HE DID MORE DAMAGE THAN ANYONE ELSE HAD BEEN ABLE..." he trailed off.

She waited.

"WHEN I TELEPORTED, I COULDN'T EVEN CONTROL WHERE I WENT. GETTING TO THE UNDERGROUND WAS PURE CHANCE. I HAD NOTHING LEFT AFTER AND I FAINTED. ALL THAT MAGIC EXPENDED IN A SPLIT SECOND. I DON'T THINK I COULD EVER DO IT AGAIN."

He paused.

"BUT SANS, HE TELEPORTS FREQUENTLY. ACCURATELY. WITH OTHERS. WITH SUPPLIES. AND HE HAD ENOUGH TO FIGHT AFTER, WHILE I COULDN'T EVEN MANAGE TO SUCCESSFULLY MOVE MYSELF. THAT TYPE OF CONTROL. THAT KIND OF POWER. THAT TAKES HARD WORK."

He let out a shaky breath and swallowed hard.

"SANS TELLS ME EVERYDAY THAT HE'S PROUD OF ME. THAT I'M THE BEST. THAT I'M STRONG... BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER A DAY THAT I DID NOT CALL HIM LAZY."

* * *

A/N: Sorry I've been gone so long. I went home for the holidays. Then I ended up getting sick. The new school quarter has started and I needed to prepare beforehand. You can expect me to update much more frequently now though.

So, I wonder how you all feel about this chapter. I wonder if any of you can guess what Sans "treasures" is? Also, our trio may be getting another person (or another couple of people -wink wink-) on their side soon. Look forward to it.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	22. Cave-in Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Cave-in Part 2

* * *

"Papyrus."

He jumped. He had been working in silence since his confession and Frisk had respected his need. Undyne's strong voice was enough to startle him. He faced the armored monster.

"YES, UNDYNE?"

"You've been here all day. Go home. Get some rest."

He glanced at the collapsed tunnel behind him. "BUT–"

"But nothing. That's an order," she spoke firmly.

His gaze flicked over to his brother, shoveling dirt by hand. "I'LL REST LATER. WHEN SANS TAKES A BREAK."

"He'll be fine."

"BUT HE JUST GOT BACK. HE MUST BE TIRED."

She sighed in exasperation. "Believe me, Papyrus. I tried. He said he rested between trips."

"...ALRIGHT."

"Good man," she said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll let him know you're leaving."

"ACTUALLY, DO YOU MIND IF I TOLD HIM MYSELF?"

"Of course not," she replied understandingly.

She walked off, returning to where she was needed without another look back.

* * *

Sans could see his brother approach from the corner of his eye-socket. Using his weight to stab the shovel into the ground, he turned to fully face Papyrus.

"hey, bro," he said, leaning against his shovel. "sup?"

He was immediately scooped up, hugged with almost crushing force. Sans frowned and pushed away slightly so he could look at his brother. "pap? you okay?"

His only answer was an unconvincing nod as he was placed back onto his feet.

"c'mon now. you can tell me," he pressed.

"IT'S NOTHING. I'M JUST...," he floundered for an excuse. "TIRED."

He did not believe him. But he hoped his brother would come to him if it became more than he could handle. The smile that he forced onto his face was only marginally reassuring. "hmm... you've been working hard, haven't you? maybe you should head home. i can take it from here."

"YES, I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE. UNDYNE DISMISSED ME FOR THE DAY. I JUST WANTED TO CHECK ON YOU FIRST."

Sans grinned up at him, genuinely glad that his brother was going to get some rest. "thanks, bro. you're the best."

It was concerning how Papyrus did not puff up from the praise as he always did. He hoped it was just the exhaustion from working a full day. For the first time ever, the brothers found themselves in an awkward silence. The conversation left off on a point neither knew how to continue from. Open-ended enough that Papyrus could not just take his leave, but with a tone that was laced with a feeling of finality. It was not until Frisk peeked out from the inside of Papyrus' shirt that Sans was able to force himself into action. At a loss of what to do, he reverted to his typical tactic. Humor. Specifically self-deprecating humor.

"guess they're finally getting these lazybones of mine to work," he remarked jokingly. "does volunteer work have legally required breaks?"

There was no appalled, foot-stomping blow-up from Papyrus. Instead, he was met with heavy silence and a stillness in his brother's posture that he had never seen before.

He did not know how to deal with this reserved, serious Papyrus who could barely keep eye contact with him.

"PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT," he said, voice cracking.

"wha–?"

Papyrus finally looked up, eye-sockets filled with tears. "THAT YOU'RE LAZY. PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT EVER AGAIN..."

He blinked, surprised. Confused and concerned, he scrambled to calm his brother. He reached out an arm, wanting to place a hand on his shoulder but uncertain if it would make things worse. "a-alright. it's okay. i understand. no more calling myself lazy."

He shook his head and insisted, "NO MORE LETTING _ANYONE_ CALL YOU LAZY. NOT EVEN ME!"

He hesitated, taken aback, before continuing to appease him. "okay. i've got it, okay? no one. i promise."

Papyrus nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath, finally seeming to calm down. Sans waited until his breathing returned to normal and he wiped his tears on his red scarf. He tugged him down so he could hug him properly, wishing– not for the first time– that he was taller than his brother like when they were just kids. His brother promptly went to his knees so he could hug his fully. Neither moved until he had recovered completely.

"so, you want to tell me what all that was about?"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU. I'M JUST TIRED."

"right. sorry i'm such a numbsku–" He cut himself off, uncertain how he would take another negative comment directed at himself. He started again. "i mean... sorry. i forgot. you should get home. get some rest."

Papyrus pulled away from Sans' hold with reluctance and stood. "YOU'RE RIGHT. I'M GOING TO GO AND... DO... THAT."

A nod.

"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE..." He looked meaningfully down into his shirt.

"sure."

Papyrus' whisper-yelled into his shirt. "TAKE CARE OF HIM, OKAY?"

A quick glance around told him that nobody else had heard. Satisfied, he wisely pretended he had not heard what he said either.

Papyrus quickly slipped the little soul into his hand before departing. He called on his magic, teleporting the little odds and ends in his pocket to their home before placing her inside. He deliberately ignored the nausea that accompanied the action. If he was having trouble moving such a small amount, he definitely was out of commission for at least a few days. But it did not matter. Frisk had taken care of his brother all day. The least he could do was make sure she was comfortable in a clean pocket.

He could feel her concern seeping into him.

"he'll be fine, kid," he murmured reassuringly. "he just needs a moment alone. he'll get some rest. make some puzzles. help some people. then he'll be back to normal. don't worry about it."

She nuzzled into him worriedly.

* * *

He had worked well into the night, Frisk keeping him motivated with her constant stream of inspiring feelings and determination. They tunnel had been cleared and reinforced. The survivors had been attended to by the unit Undyne had been working on forming since they had been run into the ground. The dust of the dead had been taken by other volunteers who would give them the best funerals possible. It was difficult when so many could not be recognized from clothing alone. While not ideal, the tunnels were crowded enough. They would be begin making settlements for monsters in the unstable tunnel tomorrow. Giving a tired wave to Undyne as he left, Sans began the walk home.

* * *

A/N: A bit shorter than usual again, I think. But it gets me to where I need to be. In retrospect, this may have done better as part of the last chapter. Some good stuff happened and next chapter you get to find out who joins our little group. Yay! They won't be as close as our little trio but maybe they can be in the future, yeah? Sans' "treasures," on the other hand, still won't appear in the next chapter. They shall be appearing soon. Do keep guessing if it amuses you. It certainly amuses me.

All these little ones need hugs. Give them some?

I hope this relatively quick update shows that I'm serious about being better and being back to my usual updating shenanigans.

As always, thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	23. Bad to Worse

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

From Bad to Worse

* * *

There was a reason why he spent his time lazing about in their cardboard-plastic house when he was not acting as a scavenger. While seeing struggling monsters everywhere he looked and being clawed at by beggars was more than enough to make him want to hide away, the worst thing was seeing how terribly desperate monsters were willing to treat each other. Stealing from those just as unfortunate. Fighting over the smallest of disagreements. He tried to keep his head down.

And it looked like he had just stumbled upon another rough spot.

He carefully gauged the distance between the tunnel wall and the pile of aggressive monsters from underneath his hood. He was not sure if he had enough room to slip by. Maybe he was thin enough, but it did not look like it was possible to pass by completely unnoticed. He hoped they were distracted enough by whatever was causing them to fight. This particular tunnel was dark enough that anyone would be able to see the red glow in his pocket. Turning to face the wall, he carefully slipped Frisk into his ribcage. A tug on his hoodie's strings and the hood tightened to his face. He could not risk her falling out in front of so many. He probably looked ridiculous with the hood pulled snug around his skull, but he hoped it was enough to hide the glow that was coming off of her soul. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he began walking briskly down the tunnel. Halfway passed and nobody turned. He was almost ready to sigh in relief.

And then a single arm burst up out of the mass, flailing helplessly before being pulled back into the pile of shifting, desperate bodies. Anyone else and he would have ignored it. He could not save everyone and helping others in this kind of environment usually meant trouble that he could not afford. He would not let himself become responsible for leading trouble to his brother.

But he knew that arm. Was helped by that hand. Relied on the person they belonged to more than once.

An arm of fire.

Grillby.

It looked like he would be getting involved, after all. One eye-socket went dark while the other flared blue. He picked up the mass of bodies and flung them away. He stepped between his friend and the angry monsters. Before he could even think of trying to talk sense into them, several rushed him, and he summoned a wall of bones. Like bars on a cage, the bones came through the floor and embedded themselves into the ceiling of the tunnel. The stabbing pain that rippled through his body told him he would not be able to use any magic at all for days. At least, not without using more determination than his body could handle. Shaking away the pain, he stepped towards the frenzied monsters, close enough to get a good look but far enough away that they could not grab him. He observed them carefully.

Some moaned while others wailed but they were all saying the same things.

"cold, so cold."

"need warm."

"fire, please."

Over and over they repeated themselves until their voices seemed to become a single reverberating groan of agony.

The monsters piled onto each other. Climbing and clamoring over each other as they reached through the gaps between the bones. Their eyes were not just vacant, but pitch black. Black ooze dripped from their eyes and mouths. He looked through the throng of monsters, categorizing the afflicted in his mind. Vulkins. Pyropes. Tsunderplanes. All former inhabitants of Hotland. He would need to see Alphys and tell her the black heating sludge did not work. But first, he needed to check on Grillby.

The monster was still kneeling on the floor. He had his daughter cradled in his arms. In the commotion, Sans had not even realized she was there. He sat on the floor beside his friend.

"is she okay?"

The fire monster shook his head, the motion only distinguishable from the way his cracked glasses moved with him. The constant shifting of fire often made him difficult to understand, as he could not speak. But Sans was used to it, having known him so long. He pressed where his mouth would be against the top flames of his daughter's head. Tears of lava dripped down his face. Her green flames seemed to recede slightly and they crackled weakly. There was dust on his black dress pants.

She was dying.

"oh, grillby," he murmured sympathetically. Nobody had ever successfully saved a monster that had already been turning to dust. "what happened?"

He did not lift his head, but fire magic threaded through the air and took form.

"trampled," he read the word aloud sadly.

A pressure on the inside of his ribcage reminded him that Frisk was there.

He tightened the hood as much as it could go, telling her without words that she could not do anything here. He spoke to Grillby, "do you want me to stay with you while she...?"

The fire monster nodded.

Frisk pulsed determinedly and banged against his ribcage.

Sans cut off another route of escape by pulling the hem of his hoodie until it went taut around his body, balling the fabric up in his fist. Grillby was too preoccupied to notice his odd behavior.

She knocked herself against his jaw, as if she was trying to escape through the hole of his hood before suddenly ducking to the side. She was out of his sleeve before he even realized it.

Grillby's eyes immediately caught sight of her floating soul. He had lived long enough to know what a human soul looked like. His eyes went down to his daughter, turning to dust in his lap because of what he assumed was a genocidal human running them all into the Outskirts. The temperature in the tunnel spiked as his flames turned blue in anger.

Three things happened in quick succession.

Grillby threw a massive fireball at Frisk.

Sans, completely depleted of magic, tackled Grillby to the ground.

And Frisk dove down towards Grillby's dying daughter.

The pair had just made it back to their feet as Frisk sunk into the dying body. The fire magic Grillby had called into his hands fizzled out and Sans looked on worriedly.

There was a pulse of determination.

Sans rushed to the body's side, Grillby following just a second after.

Another pulse of determination. Stronger than the first.

Silence.

A third pulse of determination.

And then, Grillby's daughter gasped.

* * *

The revived monster had gone into a coughing fit, Frisk tumbling out. Sans had snatched her up while the younger flame monster fell into her father's arms in exhaustion. Both girls were now asleep. Grillby carried his daughter, her head laid against his shoulder. Sans carefully slipped the slumbering Frisk into his pocket and watched as his friend pressed another kiss to his daughter's forehead.

"hey, grillby?"

He met his gaze.

"about..." he trailed off, motioning at his pocket.

Grillby nodded. He would keep his secret.

"thanks."

* * *

A/N: Another one up. Two very important things have been set up here, which makes my life much easier. More is coming soon.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	24. Done a Runner

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Done a Runner

* * *

He dropped Frisk off at home, tucking her in beside an already asleep Papyrus. Though he wanted nothing more than to join them, he knew he needed to inform Alphys of what he had seen. She would be able to point him towards other members of the New Guard to provide aid. They would take care of the new threat. He was not looking forward to the long walk. The distance between their home and her tent had been a blessing once he had retrieved Frisk, but it also made it unnecessarily difficult to get in contact with her or Undyne in time-sensitive matters such as these. The thick cave walls made phones useless and it was not like they had power to spare anyway. He considered alternate forms for communication until he reached her tent.

"yo, alphys!" he called out. "we need to talk."

There was no response.

His brow bone furrowed. "alphys, you there?"

Nothing.

He entered the tent. The lights were on low. Machines were still whirring and buzzing but she was not there. He walked over to the bulletin board on the wall. As Royal Scientist, when the kingdom went into a state of crisis like it was now, she was required to make her location known at all times. But instead of a note detailing her current location, there was an envelope. Inside was a handwritten letter.

 _Hey,_

 _I don't think I'm cut out to be Royal Scientist. I just keep messing everything up. It would make things a lot easier if I weren't around. Please don't look for me._

 _Sorry._

 _Alphys_

"dammit alphys. this really isn't the time."

His gritted his teeth together as he stuffed the note into his pocket. Looking around, she had not even left any contact information for the members of the New Guard. It looked like he would have to inform Undyne himself. He flipped a chair for good measure. He had no magic left to help, but Undyne was indispensable. He wrote a quick note to avoid the tunnel where he had seen the afflicted and taped it to the outside of the tent as a public announcement. Below, he taped another note urging any members of the New Guard to inform the other members and come prepared to fight. As for anyone else who lived too far from the tent to see the announcement, he hoped the fact that it was closely connected to the tunnel that collapsed would be enough incentive to keep them away. He tore through the tunnels towards home, dodging some and shoving others out of the way.

"she knew," he muttered furiously. "she knew and didn't bother to warn anyone."

He yanked the curtain of their home aside and cursed the scientist again as he looked at his sleeping brother. Whenever he saw her next, there would be hell to pay for making him get his brother involved. He wanted to keep him _away_ from trouble, not bring him straight to it. He reached out and shook him.

"papyrus, get up."

Papyrus woke, sitting up groggily. "SANS? WHAT–"

"undyne's in trouble. we have to help."

He was wide awake now. He kicked off the blankets, knocking Frisk out of her hoodie nest in the process. She woke and floated up weakly, confusion spreading throughout the room.

"papyrus, go outside. i'll meet you there in a second."

Papyrus complied.

Frisk was barely floating, slowly sinking downward in exhaustion. Her rescue of Grillby's daughter earlier had taken all of her energy. She was about as tapped out of energy as he was. He shoved a few scraps of cloth into a mug that said "#1 Brother" on it. Wrapping her up in a couple of clean handkerchiefs, he sat her inside it. He hoped it would keep her hidden well enough while they were gone. She pulsed softly in defiance. She wanted to help.

"stop. sleep. at least one of us deserves to get some rest."

The cup shook slightly was she attempted to float out.

He poked her back down with a finger. "no, kid. trust me, you can't help us with this."

A pause, then a feeling of a soft sigh. Resignation. She would listen.

"good. we'll be back soon," he said, placing her with the other cups.

Stepping out of their home, he could see Papyrus wringing his hands with worry. He moved to stand in front of him.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"i need you to teleport us to undyne."

His eye-sockets went wide. "WHAT? I CAN'T DO THAT! YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME."

"and you made it. you can do this."

"CAN'T WE JUST RUN THERE?"

He shook his head. "she needs us now, bro."

Papyrus shifted uncomfortably. "YOU'RE BETTER AT IT. CAN'T YOU DO IT?"

"nope. c'mon, i'll talk you through it."

"BUT–"

He went on, ignoring him. "use your magic and feel around us. it's gonna feel a little weird. there will be a bunch of little, well, they're kind of like rips, in the air around us."

"SANS! I REALLY DON'T THINK I CAN–"

" **Just do it, Papyrus.** "

Papyrus flinched. He had never heard Sans sound like that before.

Sans grimaced. He had not meant to speak to him that way. "sorry. please, pap."

His brother, still shaken, did as he asked. Sans could feel the magic envelope the area. The tunnel took on a soft blue glow from his magic, just a shade darker than his own.

"do you see them?"

He did not respond.

Sans turned to his brother to repeat the question and found that he was staring at him with concern.

"'s wrong?"

His breath hitched. He stepped in close and reached a trembling hand out to him. "SANS... I CAN'T FEEL YOUR MAGIC."

"oh, heh, don't worry 'bout that. i just overextended myself a bit."

"IT'S LIKE YOU AREN'T HERE AT ALL!"

Sans reached up to grab Papyrus' hand and squeezed it firmly. "i'm right here, okay?"

Papyrus' grip on his hand became almost painful. "OKAY."

"now, c'mon. undyne needs us."

A pause as he looked around. "I SEE THEM."

"good. now what you did before, you forced yourself to teleport. it's much easier if you use these little guys."

"YOUR SHORTCUTS," he realized.

"yup. so each one of these little rips lead somewhere. all we need to do is go through the one that takes us closest to undyne."

"THERE'S SO MANY. I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE TO GO THROUGH."

"that's okay, because I do. we'll be going through that one, right there." he told him, pointing.

"IT TOOK A LOT OF POWER LAST TIME..."

"with the shortcuts, it takes much less, i promise. you need to keep a hold of me until we are at least halfway through or you'll leave me behind, alright?"

A nod.

"you felt sick after, right?"

Another nod.

"when we step through, close your eye-sockets, hold your breath, and try to curl up so you're as small as possible. it'll help."

"OKAY," his voice was soft (for him at least) and unsure.

They both turned to face the rip. "let's go."

* * *

A/N: Another one up. As you can see, we're obviously still in the same situation. Next chapter is well underway. And friends, this is an important run, but it still remains that it definitely deserves that tally mark in Sans' notebook under "Bad Run."

Was the runner the one you expected when you read the chapter title?

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	25. Sick

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Sick

* * *

It was odd, being a passenger in teleportation again. Being transported took a bit longer and the ride was a tad bumpy but it was more or less the same as traveling alone. Papyrus was doing well for his first try. Sans stumbled when they arrived but it was a fair sight better than tumbling end over end like Papyrus did. He tugged his brother to his feet gently and ran his eyes down his form. While disoriented, he was fine. He would have more than enough magic to help out, fight (if need be), and teleport all three of them out as long as they went via rip. As his brother patted dirt off his clothing, Sans looked around the area. He had been the last volunteer to leave. Undyne, good leader that she was, had stayed behind to do recheck the supports and progress. The sickly monsters had been a good distance away from the collapsed tunnel and he hoped they had not traveled far enough to catch her unaware and alone.

* * *

They found her farther into the tunnel. Sans appraised her and Papyrus of what had happened, omitting names of the monsters attacked and Frisk's role in the rescue.

"Damn it," said Undyne, folding her arms and considering possible courses of action. "You said you completely blocked them from the other side, right?"

"yeah."

"Do you can do it again on this side? We're already overcrowded. If we can block them in, we can dig around so we can still use the tunnel as a residential area."

"sorry, no can do." he raised a hand, his magic not manifesting visibly at all and making the tiniest of popping sounds. "i'm tapped out."

She turned to Papyrus. "Think you can handle it?"

Sans stepped in front of his brother, holding up his hands defensively. "don't you think it would be better to just get away from all this? let's just cut our losses. let the sick have this tunnel. we'll reinforce it from the other side so they can't come into contact with anyone else. it's safer with the wall i've already put up."

She narrowed her eyes at the shorter skeleton, seeming emboldened by the fact that he could not call upon his magic. "We _need_ this space. I may not have been able to prevent the evacuation but I can provide them with whatever comfort I can."

"comfort is the least of our worries, buddy." His voice was threatening but they both knew he could not take her in a real fight right now.

"It isn't just comfort! With all the overcrowding, the sick monsters are getting everyone else sick too! We've been tracking the population down here. It's dropping every day."

"i'm not letting my brother put himself in anymore dan–" he was cut off by a gloved hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his brother.

"I CAN DO IT," he stated firmly. "IF WE CAN HELP, WE SHOULD."

Sans held his gaze for a long moment before sighing. "all right. i'm keeping an eye-socket out for rips the whole time though. the smallest hint of trouble and you teleport us out, understand?"

"YES!"

As the taller skeleton began walking down the tunnel, he gave Undyne a severe look. She nodded. She would not let anything happen to his brother.

* * *

It seemed that the sickly monsters were slow-witted. They were exactly where he had left them. They were still clamoring over each other, scratching and gnawing at the bones that barred them from advancing. He watched with scientific detachment, mentally taking notes of symptoms and behaviors. He had been in too much of a hurry before, but he took the time to do it now. His brow bone furrowed as nothing happened. Though they had just reached the mass of diseased bodies, he expected Papyrus to put up the wall immediately. He turned.

Papyrus was staring at the mass with terrified horror. Beside him, Undyne mirrored his expression. He reached out a hand and waved it in front of their faces to gain their attention. Papyrus snapped out of it, slowing beginning to build up magic. But Undyne just looked straight through him, still unmoving. He waved his hand more vigorously. He needed her as back-up while Papyrus put up the walls. When she still did not react, he shifted so his hand was next to her ear and snapped his fingers. She jumped, letting out a startled 'Ngah!' as she did.

The moaning from the mass abruptly stopped. Sans looked over his shoulder. They had all begun to turn around, the sight of black oozing eyes and mouths pulling frightened gasps from the other two. Almost in complete sync with each other, the infected monsters resumed their agonized mumblings and reared back, preparing to lunge.

"you might want to put up that wall now." As soon as the words left his mouth, they came at them.

Papyrus lifted a shaking hand, raising bones from the floor, aiming to trap them as Sans had.

The gaps between the bars were too wide to stop anyone.

Sans jumped to aid his brother, slamming a fist into the face of the charging monster. Unaccustomed to fighting physically, his momentum carried him forward, leaving him to watch in horror as another monster promptly took the first one's place. Papyrus watched, frozen in shock as the infected monster came straight at his skull, others mere steps behind.

A wall of blue spears appeared between Papyrus and the incoming monsters. The sight seemed to knock sense back into him as he raised his hand again, filling the gaps of the existing wall with more bones. The ones that had slipped through the bars kept coming, however. Unlike Papyrus' or Sans' bones, her spears were purely offensive, made of magic intended to hurt. They acted not as a physical barrier, but like a shredder. They ran headfirst into the line of spears, rendered into dust on contact with the warrior's weapons.

* * *

Sans had talked his unnaturally quiet brother into making more walls as a precaution. He wanted to make sure that even if they were able to break down one bone barrier, they would only come to face more. As he watched Papyrus go to work, he made his way over to Undyne, who had not moved since she had used her magic to protect his brother. She was looking down at her hands, trembling. It was not hard to know what was going through her mind.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay before changing his mind. There was no way that she was. Instead, he gave her incentive to start moving again. "pap is just about done with those walls you needed. we should go find alphys. she might be able to do something about all this."

"Why don't you two go find her and let her know. I... I think I need a moment."

"believe me, i would let her know if i could. but she's gone missing."

She finally looked up. "Missing? What do you mean?"

He handed her the crumpled note wordlessly.

She clenched her fists, worry and determination in her expression. "It's not safe for her to be alone! Let's go."

* * *

A/N: Wow this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. It really did not want to be written. I actually had to work on the next two chapters simultaneously just to keep the ball rolling. Jeez. No Frisk again this chapter or the next. But at least this time she isn't in any trouble even if the skelebros aren't around, yeah?

Next chapter should be up in three days at the latest. Probably before though as I have most of it written.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	26. Search

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Search

* * *

The search had stretched on for weeks. They had searched through every tunnel in the Main Area. Branched out to the dead ends that each tunnel eventually met. With Sans' careful supervision and guidance, Papyrus had teleported them topside so they could search through the monitors in the scientist's former lab. Reviewing the footage only proved that she had never left the Outskirts. Every member of the New Guard was ordered to keep an eye and and ear out for information on the runaway as the patrolled. There was never anything to report.

The monsters of the Outskirts were beginning to notice. While Alphys had been able to keep a low profile before everything had gone downhill, the crisis placed much scrutiny onto the Royal Scientist position. They expected her to either have a hand in eradicating the human threat or improving the poor living conditions. The longer the Royal Scientist's tent remained empty and silent, the more the unease of the masses grew. The tentative questioning was quickly becoming more aggressive. Members of the New Guard were no longer able to patrol alone after the masses began to turn violent. Without the hope of improvement that the Royal Scientist could provide, many shifted their focus to the scavengers, which consisted of only the two skeleton brothers, to give them all what they needed. An impossible demand to meet. Angry throngs of monsters coming after them became the norm. In effect, Papyrus learned very quickly how to find shortcuts and duck into them, though he was still uncertain about navigating. Sans, on the other hand, was unable to recover his magic properly. He was still weak, having to call upon his magic often to defend himself. It was significantly slowing down his rate of recovery.

It was in these conditions that they finally found a potential lead. Undyne decided to look through the file on territories within the Outskirts, hoping that the information would give her some sort of clue. The folder stuck to the one beside it, sending the other folder's contents flying as she pulled it free.

The file was titled Condemned.

* * *

The trio stood in front of a wide tunnel that had been boarded up. Deemed unlivable by the Royal Scientist Dr. Alphys. While other territories branching off had also been declared unfit for the public upon examination, this particular tunnel was examined by the scientist with no listed team. Undyne carefully broke a whole big enough for them to slip through. The tunnel, like all the others before they had settled in, was pitch black. A glowing spear was conjured, illuminating the tunnel dimly. One look at one another to ensure they were all prepared and they continued into the darkness.

There was nothing but darkness and silence for a long while as they navigated the twists and turns of the cave. But now there was a dim glow that seemed to get brighter as they continued to move deeper into the tunnel. Soon, there was no need for the spear to provide light, though she kept it out protectively. Then, they could hear shuffling and groaning. They all tensed, anticipating the possibility of more of the infected. They traveled further and indistinguishable shadows were cast upon the cave wall. Upon this sight, Sans merely blinked, mildly surprised but now knowing what was coming. There was no danger here.

They turned the corner...

and they were suddenly in the company of masses of shifting gooey blobs. The amalgamates. Undyne stood tall and raised her spear, ready to defend. But before she could even move, one of the masses lunged at her. She found herself being affectionately nuzzled by an odd amorphous body. With a critical glance around at the other forms to ensure they were behaving non-threateningly, Undyne willed her spear to disappear. She stared down at the goopy pile in front of her that was still rubbing itself against her. She hesitantly raised her hand. The mass seemed to roll over before shoving its head directly into her palm.

"You're," she murmured uncertainly. "a... dog?"

"A DOG?" Papyrus repeated incredulously as he peered over her shoulder.

Sans could see the realization set in. She looked at him in askance and he nodded, confirming her suspicions. It was like a switch had been flipped, her whole body transitioning to a firm leader's stance. She picked up the giant amalgamate and plopped it down onto Papyrus, who struggled for a moment under the unexpected weight but remained standing. She marched up to another amalgamate and scrutinized it, attempting to figure out who made up its body. Plucking another one off the floor, Sans recognized it as being the amalgamate that included Snowdrake's mother, she shoved it into the shorter skeleton's arms. She tossed a long, bird-like one over her shoulder. As she reached for another, Sans intervened.

"undyne," he stated firmly as he placed the one in his arms back down. "they can walk, or fly, on their own."

She looked at him, eye wide and desperate.

"it may look bad, but they are fine. they aren't injured. you don't have to carry everyone." he reassured her.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, some tension leaving her frame. She put the amalgamate on her shoulder back down. "Right."

Another deep breath to calm herself and she was ready to address the amalgamates around her.

"Everyone, follow me!" she barked out before turning on her heel and beginning to lead them back to where the trio had entered.

As they came to the boarded up entrance, Undyne brought the whole wall down in a single, smooth kick. She turned to Papyrus.

"I need you to lead them to the Guard's tunnels. Tell them that they'll need to house them temporarily. We'll figure out more permanent settlements later. Take the long way around. Don't let the civilians see them yet. We need to prepare a statement to give to the public first."

"OF COURSE! COME ALONG BLOB-LIKE MONSTERS! I SHALL LEAD YOU TO THE BARRACKS OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS NEW GUARD! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Undyne and Sans watched the group leave until they turned a corner and were out of sight. He looked up at the warrior beside him. She had not moved.

"undyne?"

"Those are monsters, Sans," she murmured softly. "They should be with the rest of us."

He agreed. "what now?"

She looked over her shoulder back into the dark tunnel. "Alphys has to be somewhere in there."

"well, let's go find her then."

* * *

A/N: Hey, everyone. I am well-aware that this is so very, very late. All I can say is that life has been rough and I've been struggling to keep a roof over my head and food in my belly. Writing had to take a backseat. I realized that cutting creative writing (which is almost exclusively fanfiction for me, especially this one) out of my life in order to have more time to work has contributed to my motivation and happiness tanking. As such, I'm trying to find a balance where I can keep doing this. For my happiness and sanity, I will keep updating this story. I'm back and the updates will come at least once a month, though I will update whenever I can. Sorry for leaving y'all in such an awkward place in the story.

Some good news is that, as I know where the story is going, I sometimes have to write chapters out of order and, as such, have the next chapter pretty much complete as I did it out of order. Just need to edit it a bit for consistency's sake. Need to make sure it lines up with this chapter now that I've written it. It will be up tomorrow.

Undyne's having the roughest of times right now. Yikes. No Frisk this chapter and it's likely that she won't be in the next one either.

tldr: Life sucks and is a hindrance. Going to be updating more. New chapter scheduled to be up tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	27. Cold Formality

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

–

Iterations

Cold Formality

–

Sans dozed, taking the opportunity to sleep and expedite his recovery as much as he could. Though he could not afford to sleep deeply, he was desperate to accumulate any amount of magic, no matter how measly. He swore to himself that he would have actual rest as soon as the situation with Alphys was under control. Undyne had gone on ahead, citing that she would rather meet the scientist one-on-one, having been close friends with her for so long. He figured she would be better able to reason with her as he shared no such tie to the scientist. And he owed it to Undyne to let her try to hash out such personal affairs without an audience. But with so many monsters agitated by the lack of answers coming from the Guard, it was better that he did not leave her alone for long. He only agreed to let her off on her own until his brother returned from delivering the amalgamates to the New Guard.

–

The two skeletons walked right in to the middle of a heated argument, voices low but fervent. Undyne distractedly nodded in acknowledgment of their entrance, though her attention remained focused on Alphys. Papyrus, attempting to be polite, immediately turned back around, murmuring some excuse and stating that he would be close enough should any of them call for him. He looked distinctly uncomfortable. Sans, on the other hand, felt better now that they were close enough to be monitored and allowed himself to slip back into slumber.

But he found himself waking minutes later as the volume spiked in their argument. He was immediately wide awake and paying close attention.

"Even without a warning, you're the best fighter there is! I knew you would be fine!" Alphys retorted defensively.

A beat. Silence.

Surprise flickered across Undyne's face and then her face turned stony. Suddenly, she was looking right through her. "Royal Scientist, you have violated protocol. The kingdom has never been in a crisis so severe. As such, you are under oath to lead research to remedy the problem. Your place is in your lab. Return to it immediately."

"W-what–"

"Return to your station. Refusal is treason. I will not ask again."

"Tr-treason? I–"

"Due to the circumstances, should you choose to comply, you will not be charged for your attempt to abandon your duties. You will resume your research. A member of the Guard will be assigned to accompany you at all times. You will be responsible for reporting to this officer. Refuse and you will be charged accordingly for any deaths facilitated by the influence of your experimental remedies and holding monsters prisoner against their will. Do you understand?"

"Undyne–"

Finally, Undyne met her gaze. Her eyes were expressionless. "It is appropriate to address me by either my rank as the Head of the Royal Guard or my position on the royal cabinet, Royal Scientist."

Alphys looked at her with agonized disbelief.

"Will you take the offer to continue your research?"

The smaller monster seemed to curl in on herself as she responded in a sad whisper. "Yes, Defense Minister."

Undyne turned away and barked, "Papyrus!"

In mere moments, they could hear his boots crunching rapidly on the floor as he ran back at her call. "YES, UNDYNE?"

"I offered to induct you into the Royal Guard once. You declined in favor of becoming part of the volunteer scavenging unit headed by your brother. Correct?"

He blinked in surprise at her formality. "UM... SANS WAS THE ONLY MEMBER BEFORE... I GUESS THAT WOULD MAKE HIM HEAD BY DEFAULT... YES, THAT'S RIGHT."

"In recognition for the exemplary work all the members of your unit have demonstrated recently, I'm making the unit official. Your primary responsibility will remain the same: acquiring supplies. Your unit will also now have the option of recruiting members of the New Guard into your supply runs and stocking inventory. As an official unit under the department of defense, you answer to me."

Sans stepped into the conversation, giving her a searching look. "heh, shouldn't you be informing the so-called head of this 'new unit?'"

"Consider yourself informed," she replied curtly before turning back towards Papyrus. "Your first assignment is to escort the Royal Scientist back to the lab and guard her. You will not allow her out of your sight. She has proven to be a flight risk."

Alphys trembled with silent sobs.

Papyrus looked between the two worriedly. "UNDYNE, ARE YOU BEING MEAN? ALPHYS IS CRYING. WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE DOING, I DON'T THINK–"

"Papyrus," she stated firmly. "You are the only one here I can rely on right now. Nobody else in the Guard is here. I need you to do this for me... I'm ordering you to do this for me."

"I...," he hesitated, conflicted. "I DO NOT LIKE THIS."

"I know you don't. I'll switch you out for a member of the New Guard as soon as I can, but we can't let her be alone."

"IT SOUNDS LIKE SHE WOULD BE A PRISONER."

Sans was observing the scene unfold carefully. He was the only one who noticed Undyne swallow hard, her voice wavering just slightly as she said, "She is."

"BUT UNDYNE–"

"She is a danger to not only herself, but all of us. She needs to be monitored." The strength had returned to her voice.

Papyrus frowned but nodded. "I UNDERSTAND."

He placed a bony hand on Alphys' back and led her away. He kept looking from the distraught scientist to the stoic warrior and back again. Undyne did not watch them leave, but Sans did, watching them disappear around the corner. They listened as the footsteps finally faded into silence. Tension was palpable in the air. He watched Undyne carefully. She had not moved since she had issued Papyrus his first official order. Just as Sans began to consider speaking, the warrior let out an angry scream, suplexing a boulder in pebbles. A wave of her arm and spears appeared, raining down on its remains. Her magic dissipated, spears disappearing to show nothing but dust falling to coat everything.

And suddenly she was tearing at her shirt, clawing at her arms, gasping for breath as she scrambled to rub away the dust that had settled all over her. As nails dug deep and began ripping scales off her arms, Sans intervened. He cursed his short stature as he attempted to jump high enough to restrain her arms. Finally, he was able to wrap his arms around hers from behind, preventing her from doing any more damage to herself. The warrior slumped to the floor, spent. Sans was glad to have his feet on the ground again. She crawled up to the cave wall, turning to sit against it. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head atop them. Sans took a seat beside her, remaining silent as he waited for her to speak.

"You know I've been staying with Alphys. I thought that maybe we..." She looked wistfully into the distance. "We got really close."

He blinked. "so you two were together?"

"It felt like we were sometimes." She let out a sharp mirthless laugh. "Whenever someone questioned her ability or methods, I defended her. Even before all of this, I told her how awesome I thought she was. I tried to bolster her confidence. Her values, her hobbies, I made them mine. I protected her... but she didn't even think to protect me."

He had never really been close to either of the two women, even when he had worked in the labs with Alphys. He had never realized they had been that close.

"I wanted to protect our people since the day I became old enough to understand that we were suffering down here. She's known me forever. She _knows_ me. That oath I took when I joined the Royal Guard as the lowest ranked soldier, that I swore to uphold when I took office as the Defense Minister. That oath is _everything_ that I am." She held out a shaking hand and looked at the grey residue still on it. "And still she... she was ready to let me go without warning because she was scared to tell the truth. Because she knew that I could easily stop almost any other monster. She was ready to force me into a situation where I would have to... Oh, god. I killed monsters. I _killed_ more thanone of our own, Sans."

Sans was not a touchy-feely kind of person, but Undyne was and she needed reassurance now. He reached out and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "you did... but you saved one of our own too."

"Yeah..."

"hey, buddy. look at me, okay?" He waited until she returned eye contact. "as someone who loves papyrus very much, i will always be grateful. you had a hard choice to make and i think you made the right one."

She looked skyward, blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that had accumulated. Her voice was weak but sincere. "Thanks Sans. That helps."

Finally, she stood, not as tall as usual but as determined as ever. "I can't protect her anymore. Not over everyone. Not over our people."

The anguish in her eyes told him she would like nothing more than for someone to justify Alphys' actions.

He was not the right person for that.

–

A/N: Oh my goodness, I feel so bad! I had this uploaded to ao3 yesterday super late and, in my sleep-deprived state, forgot to upload a copy here. I'm so sorry! Forgive me?

Yikes, just sunk one of my own ships here. Ouch. But there are some things that a relationship can't mend. Swear that I'm getting them together in a happy ending one day. This iteration though? Unfortunately, not happening.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


	28. Faith Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

* * *

Iterations

Faith Part 1

* * *

Frisk did not seem to be getting any better. Since their run-in with Grillby and his daughter, she had been sluggish and weak. She was barely able to float around anymore. When he had begun tucking her into her mug and leaving her behind more often, her frustration had been obvious. But he had just wanted her to rest. He had hoped, being unpracticed in dealing with a soul in its purest form, that rest was all she needed. Papyrus had agreed, just as worried about their friend. On one of their scavenging missions, the taller skeleton had brought back a radio. After three days of listening to the Best of MTT CD, Sans had mercifully brought her a couple of audio books from their next excursion. Now, they both brought her something new every time. While she enjoyed the gifts, she grew increasingly worried as Sans kept her apprised on the world outside their home. Between hearing about them moving stray infected into quarantine, finding Alphys, supply missions, and fending off the increasingly violent public, she had frequently pleaded to be taken along. Sans, of course, had denied her. Lately, however, she had begun sleeping more often. She slept the day away, scarcely even asking to accompany them anymore. Neither of the brothers knew what to do.

* * *

Sans had a rude awakening this morning. As he changed into a new shirt, he had found that one of his ribs had warped, no longer the smooth curve it should have been. One of his vertebra had melted into the one underneath it, making it agonizing to bend in certain ways. The small amounts of magic that he was pulling on was impossible to use without a gratuitous use of determination. He was paying for it now. Gritting his teeth, he pulled on his hoodie, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. He needed to see Undyne.

* * *

She led him to an area where they could speak alone as he requested.

"So, what did you need to talk about, Sans?" Undyne asked.

"the scavenging unit needs to take a break."

"What?" she exclaimed. "We can't afford that! We don't have enough as it is!"

"don't you think i know that?" he retorted through gritted teeth. "it's too much. especially for just us."

"I gave you the authority to recruit members of the guard. And from what I heard, you've taken me up on that offer. Request denied."

"it wasn't a request. we're tapping out for a bit whether you approve of not. **we.** **need. to. rest.** "

Anger blazed in her eyes and she wound her arm back. He dodged easily and she reduced a convenient boulder to pebbles instead. She took in a deep, frustrated breath before turning back to face him.

He regarded her impassively. "pal, you really oughta work on that temper."

"Screw you! You're a selfish bastard, did you know that?"

His eyes went dark and he ducked his head. "yeah... i know."

She cursed, anger fading away immediately though the frustration remained. She ran a hand through her hair with a huff. "You know I didn't mean it. Anger issues, remember?"

"doesn't mean you aren't right."

She looked off into the distance where the Royal Scientist's tent could be seen. "We all get a little selfish sometimes. But at least you aren't hurting anyone."

Silence.

She shook her head and turned back to him, calmer now. "What's this really about?"

"nothing."

She huffed and glared at him. "I may have to work on my temper, but _you've_ got to work on talking to people. I'm your friend, you know?"

He gave her a skeptical look.

"Hey! We may have only become friends because of..." she faltered. A darted glace into the distance. "Because of... Papyrus but we're friends now."

He knew what she had really meant. _He_ had accepted her because of his brother. _She_ , on the other hand, had accepted him because he had worked with Alphys at the time. He nodded in agreement regardless.

"So, are you going to tell me or what?"

It seemed he had no other options.

"...don't tell papyrus." He murmured as he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and hoodie and lifted them.

A gasp of horror. "Oh," she said, the statement not enough but all she could offer in response.

"yup. told ya i was tired."

She gasped sharply. "That isn't tired, Sans! That's... that's..."

He shrugged. There was not really anything he could say.

She turned away from the gruesome sight, swallowing the bile that was clogging her throat. "I get it. I do, alright? But we can't just stop doing supply runs. Take a break, Sans. But your unit still needs to go on without you."

" **no.** "

They glared at each other, his eye-sockets dark while her eye blazed with resolve. The unit could not risk doing supply runs without being teleported. At least, not without the risk of leading the human back to the tunnels. While Papyrus had been providing the majority of the magic, he was still not as practiced as Sans, needing him to advise him through each trip. The younger brother was inefficient, getting everyone there but expelling more magic than needed. More than once, Sans had to call upon his own magic as a supplement to stabilize their trips.

"he's my little brother, undyne. he's the only family i've got left."

She seemed to think for a moment. Then she looked him in the eye and promised, "I'll take care of him."

He blinked. "what about–"

"It's not like y'all are gone all the time. I can shove my duties here onto a subordinate during those trips. I'm a warrior at heart, Sans. While I've gotten pretty good at this policy crap, I've always been meant for the front lines."

He stared at her, overcome with appreciation. Though he appreciated how she served as a role model and friend to his brother, he had never felt truly fond of her. He choked down the lump that was suddenly in his throat. He wondered how he had never realized how, in her own way, Undyne had always protected his brother.

He took in a trembling breath and said, "okay."

* * *

Frisk had barely woken up at all in the last few days. The dim glow of her soul and the occasional soft pulses of emotion that she still broadcast were only mildly reassuring. Her exhaustion was perpetual. The only positive feelings he got from her seemed to be fleeting glimpses of fondness as he tucked her or a new audio book was played and firm waves of determination. But nobody could live off of determination alone. Confusion and disorientation rippled through him, as the first time in so long, he placed her into his pocket. He patted her comfortingly as he walked away from their home. He wished, not for the first time, that he could send her kind feelings back as she could in her current form. He hoped the feeling of his hand caressing her through his pocket was calming enough. He walked quickly, head low and covered by the oversized hood of his jacket. He had long began to wear pants and sneakers so none of his bones were visible. If he was careful and lucky, few monsters would recognize him, the idea preferable to being clawed at by everyone that needed aid. His magic, never before pushed to the point that it was impossible to muster, had been slow to return. The fact that he continued to use the scarce amount he managed to recover immediately out of necessity had been incredibly trying on his body. He hoped, with the leave he had been granted from Undyne, that he would be able to recover his magic soon.

* * *

A/N: So, I'm back. Sort of. Things have been crazy but I'm here. Gonna be a rough time for a while. I truly hope I'll be able to work on this more. Cheer me on, yeah? I could use the positivity. Writing this story makes me happy but it would help to hear if y'all are still with me and enjoying this.

Important things set up here in this chapter. It seems like this iteration is all about getting insight into the heads of our favorite monsters (or my headcanons about it, at least).

Until next time friendlies,

 _Dfsemina_


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